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Critical Response
It's rare to encounter novellas in current fiction, and the
two contained in this volume . . . should be appreciated because
they represent that form well. The long short story makes
demands of shape and tension that are difficult for a writer
to fulfill; David Carpenter's success is a tangible comment
on his fictional ability.
- Aretha Van Herk
With the release of his first booklength
work of fiction . . . slush-pile foundling David Carpenter
vaults from the ranks of the proven but obscure into the front
row of the current Can-Lit class. [He] has done a superb job
of storytelling in the two novellas that make up this distinctly
(and deliciously) prairie product.
- Scot Morison
Jokes for the Apocalypse . . . is
an extremely accomplished first book. Carpenter is a good
story-teller and his prose is lucid and refreshing. He has
great sympathy for his characters. Very original, a unique
voice.
- Guy Vanderhaeghe
While there is a great deal of comedy in
these stories, it would be misleading to suggest that they
are pure comedy. Perhaps Carpenter's greatest skill is his
ability to balance and combine the comic and the pathetic,
which is the hardest of all to manage. He does manage it and
is able to combine all his separate effects and swirl them
deftly into great dramatic climaxes that mark him as a master
story-teller.
- Joan Givner
Jokes shows how the novella form
can succeed. Carpenter's two stories . . . are wonderfully
written, with quirky humour and a bit of mysticism, what science
fiction fans call a sense of wonder. Carpenter's skill as
a poet makes the language and imagery clear and fluid, and
his symbolism fresh.
- M. Anderson
David Carpenter's writing has come a long
way since [his first] story appeared in Fiddlehead
. . . in 1982. Confusion has developed into complexity, and
an amusing talent for describing weirdos has become a mature
ability to create odd but thoroughly human characters.
- Laurel Boone
I like both novellas in Jokes for the
Apocalypse. “Luce” is probably my favourite
of the two, if I had to pick a favourite. (But I’m glad
I don’t, because I like the title novella too.) One
of the things I like about “Luce” is the way Carpenter
tells the story, the thing he does with time, gradually getting
to the story, with the firm grounding in the present. And,
of course, the fish.
- Raymond Carver
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Reading
Excerpts