Close Modal

The Road Narrows As You Go

Paperback
$16.00 US
5.25"W x 8.24"H x 1.3"D   | 17 oz | 24 per carton
On sale Jun 23, 2015 | 512 Pages | 9780143172369
 All Wendy Ashbubble has ever wanted is to draw comics as well as Charles Schultz’s Peanuts —and to one day see her creations grace the pages of a major daily newspaper. Growing up in Victoria in the 1970s, Wendy dreams of getting out, getting away … and getting recognition for her talent. And there’s another, never-whispered motivation that prompts her to seek her fortune: a deeply buried memory and unshakeable belief that her unknown father is Ronald Reagan, the fortieth president of the United States.

 

A chance meeting in Victoria with an attractive-but-mysterious travelling artist inspires Wendy to take the plunge, and she runs away to live in a dilapidated artists’ commune in San Francisco. There, amid the haze of top-quality weed, unbridled creativity, and unfettered sex, her dream begins to take tangible shape. With the aid of Frank Fleecen, an up-and-coming bonds trader and agent, Wendy’s Strays are soon competing for newsprint space against the likes of Berkeley Breathed, Jim Davis, and Bill Watterston … even against Wendy’s beloved Charles Schultz himself.

 

But there are darker shades on the pencilled horizon: the spectre of AIDS, unexplained disappearances, bad therapy, junk bonds, demonology, and SEC agents investigating Frank’s business protocols.

 

The Road Narrows As You Go is simultaneously the portrait of a young woman struggling to find her place and a bright, rollicking, unflinching depiction of the 1980s. It embodies all the brash optimism and ruthless amoralism of the decade, as well as its preoccupation with repressed memories, and fully captures the flavour of an uncertain but deeply vibrant era.

“[Lee Henderson] is one of the truly original writers we have in this country, capable of doing what many contemporary writers aspire to do: to legitimately blend the high and the low, the absurd and the sincere. His previous novel, The Man Game, was an exceptionally well-written, genuinely moving and audaciously imagined book that didn’t get nearly the attention it deserved. I would read anything he writes, even a book about a woman who secretly believes her father is Ronald Reagan.” - David Bezmozgis, author of Natasha and Other Stories

“A rollicking tour through the 1980s, exploring notions of creative work and art during the period…. Entertaining and raucous…. Henderson’s insightful scenes make this book a pleasure to read.” - Toronto Star

“High energy, deliciously smart…. The Road Narrows As You Go is truly a fabulous read.” - Winnipeg Free Press

“Henderson’s second novel hits you like BIF! BAM! POW! The Road Narrows as You Go recalls the playful panache of Thomas Pynchon, the absurdist humour of Mark Leyner and the heart of Peanuts.” - Flare
© Mia Cunningham

Lee Henderson is the author of the award-winning short story collection The Broken Record Technique. He is a contributing editor to the arts magazines Border Crossings in Canada and Contemporary in the UK. He has published fiction and art criticism in numerous periodicals and co-organizes Father Zosima Presents, a monthly night of sound performances where he lives in Vancouver, B.C. His first novel, The Man Game, won the BC Book Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

View titles by Lee Henderson

About

 All Wendy Ashbubble has ever wanted is to draw comics as well as Charles Schultz’s Peanuts —and to one day see her creations grace the pages of a major daily newspaper. Growing up in Victoria in the 1970s, Wendy dreams of getting out, getting away … and getting recognition for her talent. And there’s another, never-whispered motivation that prompts her to seek her fortune: a deeply buried memory and unshakeable belief that her unknown father is Ronald Reagan, the fortieth president of the United States.

 

A chance meeting in Victoria with an attractive-but-mysterious travelling artist inspires Wendy to take the plunge, and she runs away to live in a dilapidated artists’ commune in San Francisco. There, amid the haze of top-quality weed, unbridled creativity, and unfettered sex, her dream begins to take tangible shape. With the aid of Frank Fleecen, an up-and-coming bonds trader and agent, Wendy’s Strays are soon competing for newsprint space against the likes of Berkeley Breathed, Jim Davis, and Bill Watterston … even against Wendy’s beloved Charles Schultz himself.

 

But there are darker shades on the pencilled horizon: the spectre of AIDS, unexplained disappearances, bad therapy, junk bonds, demonology, and SEC agents investigating Frank’s business protocols.

 

The Road Narrows As You Go is simultaneously the portrait of a young woman struggling to find her place and a bright, rollicking, unflinching depiction of the 1980s. It embodies all the brash optimism and ruthless amoralism of the decade, as well as its preoccupation with repressed memories, and fully captures the flavour of an uncertain but deeply vibrant era.

Praise

“[Lee Henderson] is one of the truly original writers we have in this country, capable of doing what many contemporary writers aspire to do: to legitimately blend the high and the low, the absurd and the sincere. His previous novel, The Man Game, was an exceptionally well-written, genuinely moving and audaciously imagined book that didn’t get nearly the attention it deserved. I would read anything he writes, even a book about a woman who secretly believes her father is Ronald Reagan.” - David Bezmozgis, author of Natasha and Other Stories

“A rollicking tour through the 1980s, exploring notions of creative work and art during the period…. Entertaining and raucous…. Henderson’s insightful scenes make this book a pleasure to read.” - Toronto Star

“High energy, deliciously smart…. The Road Narrows As You Go is truly a fabulous read.” - Winnipeg Free Press

“Henderson’s second novel hits you like BIF! BAM! POW! The Road Narrows as You Go recalls the playful panache of Thomas Pynchon, the absurdist humour of Mark Leyner and the heart of Peanuts.” - Flare

Author

© Mia Cunningham

Lee Henderson is the author of the award-winning short story collection The Broken Record Technique. He is a contributing editor to the arts magazines Border Crossings in Canada and Contemporary in the UK. He has published fiction and art criticism in numerous periodicals and co-organizes Father Zosima Presents, a monthly night of sound performances where he lives in Vancouver, B.C. His first novel, The Man Game, won the BC Book Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize.

View titles by Lee Henderson