I finished A Boy of Good Breeding last night. It was lovely, funny, and a nice quick read. More character than plot driven, and often reminiscent of my own childhood in a small Manitoba town. ( )

This is the first book I've read by Miriam Toews, and I started off laughing out loud.. I swear that I can't ever remember that happening (or at least I don't think I've ever laughed so hard). Throughout the book there is lots of tongue in cheek humour (especially the names of the characters) and a funny, and at times sentimental story of a sort-of nervous-type mayor of Canada's smallest town. Now interested in reading some of her other books... ( )

This book deals with the obsessed mayor of the smallest town in Canada, his assistant and his assistant's family. Mayor Hosea Funk is desperate to have exactly 1,500 inhabitants in his town, since this is the limit to be called a town, and he doesn't want one person extra, because then he wouldn't be the smallest town in Canada anymore. His struggles to either reach or maintain this particular number are of course absurd, but never feel surreal since Toews manages to portray Hosea as a very human and understandable character. (This skill reminds me of John Irving or Roald Dahl: it's only when you try to retell their stories to someone else, that you feel amazed by the absurdity of a hotel for dwarfs or a murder by means of a lamb steak.)

All in all, a very amusing and pleasant read. I don't give it five stars because it feels as if there's some distance between the reader and the main characters. ( )