Gordon Sheppard

This is one of the most extraordinary works of literature I have ever read. Although I have worked in the field of cultural psychiatry and suicidology for close to 20 years, I came away from this book feeling that my understanding and appreciation of suicide, Québec and Canadian society and, indeed, the human condition had all been immeasurably deepened. But this does not do justice to the pleasure HA! has given me as a work of art. Simply put, this book is magisterial: playfully conceived, deeply felt, and brilliantly executed.