Tough guy

Went to the Writers Trust awards last night. Was mercifully well-managed and painless to watch. (The awards ceremony, not me.) Kenneth J. Harvey won the big fiction prize for Inside, a novel I reviewed for the Toronto Star last year, and which more and more people keep mentioning to me as their favourite of the year.

I said hello and congratulations, etc. to Harvey after the ceremony, and he was gracious enough to thank me for my review (which, though mostly positive, took a few shots at Harvey's self-consciously maverick tendencies, most of which he has dropped, I think). He even said he'd heard I was "a tough critic," which briefly warmed the cockles of my cold, shrivelled heart. Of course, by "tough critic" he may have meant "complete asshole." Most do.

Either way, it was good to see a good book win.