Light Lifting
CBC Books | CBC | Posted: March 20, 2017 1:23 PM | Last Updated: March 20, 2017
Alexander MacLeod
A pre-adolescent drug store bicycle courier crosses a forbidden threshold in an attempt to save a life, only to risk his own. A young swimmer conquers her fear of water only to discover she's caught in far more dangerous currents. In Light Lifting, Alexander MacLeod's long-awaited first collection of short stories, the author offers us a suite of darkly urban and unflinching elegies for a city and community on the brink. Anger and violence simmer just beneath the surface and often boil over, resulting in both tragedy and tragedy barely averted. But as bleak as these stories sometimes are, there is also hope, beauty and understanding. Alexander McLeod's stories are as disturbing, compelling and true as any currently being written in this or any country. (From Biblioasis)
From the book
I meshed my fingers together on my chest and tried to make them go up and down as slowly as possible. It was coming and we were waiting for it. The goal now was to do absolutely nothing and let time flow right over us. It would have been impossible to do less and still be alive. I felt like one of the bodies laid out in a funeral home, waiting for the guests to arrive. You couldn't put these things off forever. Eventually it had to end. In a couple of hours, some guy dressed all in white would say "Take your marks." Then, one second later, there'd be the gun.
From Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod ©2010. Published by Biblioasis.