"Twelve Miles to Midnightfeels like so much more than the sum of its parts, never straying from the small particulars of ordinary lives yet somehow achieving the breadth and depth of an epic. Narbonne writes with a rare humanity and insight, giving all his characters their due and uniquely attuned to the ties that bind them." - Nino Ricci, author ofThe Origin of Species"Twelve Miles to Midnightis a superbly crafted gift: honest, compelling, and deeply moving."- Nick Mount, University of Toronto"There is no denying the intimate warmth of Narbonne's writing, the careful craftsmanship of his stories, and the tenderness of his characterization. This is one beautiful, tough book, full of complex relationships and sometimes angry compassion. - Alexander MacLeod, author ofLight Lifting (fitzhenry and whiteside)About the AuthorA marine engineer by first trade,Andr Narbonnewas living out of his duffel bag when he arrived in Halifax on a damaged tanker in the mideighties. He completed two degrees in English at Dalhousie University and a PhD at the University of Western Ontario. He teaches English Creative Writing at the University of Windsor.Andr Narbonne's first collection of awardwinning stories,Twelve Miles to Midnight,abounds withintriguing and raw characters: a mother who flees to a wild island in Northern Ontario to protect her son from the vengeance of strangers; a mad captain on an icebound oil tanker stalked by an invisible predator; a Melvillean chef who prefers not to cook; a sex worker seeking transcendence. In twelve piercingly authentic stories, Narbonne crafts a compellingly human world in which compassion is the genius of commonplace heroes and heroines. what is the importance of books Twelve Miles to Midnight: Stories