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An Evening with Sean Michaels

Monday Oct 28 2019 7:30 pm, Winnipeg, Grant Park in the Travel Alcove
NOTE: This event has already taken place. Please visit this page to see our upcoming events.

In conversation with Jill Wilson and signing The Wagers (Random House Canada). Co-presented by the Winnipeg International Writers Festival as part of our collaborative Fall Literary Series.

Scotiabank Giller-winner Sean Michaels is back with his widely anticipated second novel, The Wagers, a story of long odds, magical heists and the dizzying gamble of life. Where does luck come from? What is it worth? And how much of it do you need to be happy?

Theo Potiris is a grocer and a comedian who never repeats his jokes. After 15 years of open mikes, he’s still waiting for his break. When two loved-ones get struck by bolts from the blue, Theo decides he can’t keep chasing his old dreams any longer and resolves to pursue a bigger score.

Here the novel takes a surprise left turn, away from the price of milk and into a shabby, beautiful, imaginary Montreal where peacocks strut on street corners and gamblers bet on sunny days. Theo uncovers a mysterious association of sports-obsessed mathematicians which is turning probability into riches, and vigilantes who steal luck from those who have taken more than their fair share.

Sean Michaels was born in Stirling, Scotland. Raised in Ottawa, he eventually settled in Montreal, founding Said the Gramophone, one of the earliest music blogs. He has since spent time in Edinburgh and Kraków, written for the Guardian and McSweeney’s, toured with rock bands, searched the Parisian catacombs for Les UX, and received 2 National Magazine Awards. He is the author of the Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning novel Us Conductors.

Host Jill Wilson is a copy editor and arts reporter at the Winnipeg Free Press, where she writes about food, film, books, theatre and culture.

See:

The Wagers

- Sean Michaels

Hardcover $32.95
Reader Reward Price: $29.66

Scotiabank Giller-winner Sean Michaels is back with his widely anticipated second novel, The Wagers, a deeply satisfying story of long odds, magical heists and the dizzying gamble of life. Where does luck come from? What is it worth? And how much of it do you need to be happy?

Theo Potiris is a grocer and a comedian who never repeats his jokes. After 15 years of open mics, he's still waiting for his break--bicycling to the comedy club at night, stacking plums at his family's grand and ramshackle supermarket by day. His girlfriend is halfway around the world, searching for enlightenment with a patron who happens to be the richest man on Earth, and when two other loved-ones get struck by bolts from the blue, Theo decides he can't keep chasing his old dreams any longer. He resolves to trade his wishes in, pursuing a bigger score.
     Here Sean Michaels' novel takes a surprise left turn, away from the price of milk and into a shabby, beautiful, imaginary Montreal where peacocks strut on street corners and gamblers bet on sunny days. Theo uncovers a mysterious association of sports-obsessed mathematicians, The Rabbit's Foot, which is turning probability into riches, and the vigilante No Name Gang, who steal luck from those who have taken more than their fair share. Bursting with sheer story-telling pleasure and stylish prose, The Wagers carries you along on wave after wave of invention--a literary motorcycle chase that soon has you wondering about the randomness of good fortune and all the ways we choose to wage our lives.