Rag Pickers

Funny and heartbreaking, these stories pick at the edge of human lives and reassemble the pieces in search of meaning and connection.

A sinister note sewn in the lining of a vintage jacket from a second-hand store compels a young woman to make changes in her life. A brother discovers his dying twin has been burying jars of coins in an attempt to create mystery in a neighbourhood. On his 43rd birthday, a man realizes that the critical events of his life occur in years when his age is a prime number. A woman reconfigures her stick figure on the back window of the family minivan in an act of defiance and reinvention.

Rag Pickers is a collection of eighteen short stories that challenge the essential loneliness of the human condition. Blaine Newton writes with wry humour, deep observation, and an off-kilter perspective, bringing his skill as a playwright to crackling dialogue and polished prose. Well-crafted, heartbreaking, and really, really funny, this is a book for anyone who has ever felt alone.

About the Author

Blaine Newton is an award-winning playwright, comedy and short fiction writer, actor and sometime engineer. His plays have been produced across western Canada, and his short fiction has been published in magazines and anthologies, and featured on CBC and CKUA radio. He lives in Edmonton with his wife, Leslie Greentree. Rag Pickers is his first short story collection.

Polished, often startling stories that come at you sideways, gathering force and momentum. Edgy and smart.

—Jeanette Lynes, author of The Apothecary’s Garden

A treasure chest filled with glittering surprises. Subtle, irreverent, laced with dark humor, replete with a sense of mystery. Highly recommended!

—Clem Martini, author of The Comedian, Bitter Medicine and The Unravelling

I found myself re-reading these stunningly clever, and heartbreaking, and poignant stories and asking myself more than a few times – ‘How the hell did he do that?’

—Thomas Trofimuk, author of Waiting for Columbus and The Elephant on Karlův Bridge