From the author of Saint Lazarus Day and Other Stories comes The Barber's Collection, an original and poignant tragicomic novel brimming with searing humour and heartrending downfalls.
Deinstitutionalization has just begun, yet it can't come soon enough for one infamous patient with a violent criminal past. Amidst the sweltering summer heat during a chaotic morning in town, an antsy barber, a nostalgic farmer, a distressed sheriff, and a troubled labourer mull over a shocking escape from the psychiatric hospital.
These four unforgettable characters navigate their everyday lives, and as their paths diverge once more, unforeseen and inadvertent events collide.
R. Conrad Speer, a Saskatchewan-based writer, is known for Saint Lazarus Day and Other Stories, published by Atmosphere Press in 2020. With a postgraduate certificate in creative writing from the University of Edinburgh, he draws inspiration in this novel from his past experiences working on the grounds of a vast rural psychiatric hospital.