The Off Season

(Paperback)

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Description

There is a curse on Point Vestal. Time moves differently in this sleepy Northwestern coastal town, where the ghosts of the past roam the streets as readily as the living inhabitants. It's still the late 19th century, and underneath the quaint touristy allure of the commingling of the past and present is a lurking darkness. August Starling, a decadent (and dead) crime baron, has a plan for Point Vestal because the magical nature of the town is a haven for sinners fleeing judgment for their crimes. And the only residents who can stop him are newcomers to town: a defrocked Episcopalian priest and a talking cat, who is fluent in seven languages.
The Off Season is an effusive meditation on the nature of the fantastic, by a writer the Atlanta Constitution calls "a lasting voice in modern American literature." Cady, winner of both the Nebula and the World Fantasy Award, has given us "a consummate yarn, told with many digressions and anecdotes that combine with folksy humor to create a tall tale suffused with pathos and melancholy." (The Seattle Times)

Reviews

PRAISE FOR THE OFF SEASON: "A fine, fabulous tale packed with marvelous events and wonders." -- Gahan Wilson "Without a doubt Cady's funniest, weirdest, most original and--literally--spookiest novel yet." -- Peter S. Beagle "A western road comedy in the tradition of Richard Brautigan, Tom Robbins, and ... Mark Twain: outlandish and preposterous and totally believable." -- The New York Times Book Review "A pungent mix of Tom Robbins, Ray Bradbury, and Charles G. Finlay--but pure Cady, and it's glorious!" -- Greg Bear "A consummate yarn, told with many digressions and anecdotes that combine with folksy humor to create a tall tale suffused with pathos and melancholy." -- The Seattle Times PRAISE FOR JACK CADY: "It takes no special critical powers to recognize in Cady an exceptional writer, who is not just promising but has already achieved some remarkable feats." -- Joyce Carol Oates on The Burning, Cady's first short fiction collection "Jack Cady is above all, a writer of great, unmistakable integrity and profound feeling ... Jack Cady's voice is a voice we need to hear." -- Peter Straub "Engrossing ... the icy descriptions are vivid and chilling." -- the Los Angeles Times Book Review on The Jonah Watch "For more than 30 years, Cady has been one of America's great chroniclers of characters and place." -- Publishers Weekly "Jack Cady is a born storyteller ... A lasting voice in modern American literature." -- The Atlanta Constitution "Jack Cady's knack for golden sentences is an alchemy any other writer has to admire." -- Ivan Doig

Author Bio

Jack Cady (1932--2004) was an award-winning fantasist and horror writer. During his career he won the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, and the Bram Stoker Award. He taught writing at various academic institutions, including the University of Washington and Pacific Lutheran University. He was a conscientious objector during the Korean War, a member of the U.S. Coast Guard in Maine, a truck driver, an auctioneer, a landscaper, and a fervent believer in the value of history as a tool to understanding both politics and writing.