The facts behind the Helsinki Roccomatios
Short stories, Canadian non-fiction
Human-transcribed braille
Summary
A Canadian student's life is changed when he hears the Rankin Concerto, written in honour of a Vietnam veteran; a prison warden reports to a mother on her son's last moments before he is executed; a surreal fable is presented… in which mirrors are made from memories. In the title novella, Paul, a young man, is dying of AIDS, and his student mentor at college devises a plan to keep him engaged in life. They will invent the story of the Roccamatio family of Helsinki, which will have 100 chapters, each thematically linked to an event of the 20th century. Strong language. 2004, c1993.