Overview

Espionage novel with historical and literary fiction appeal as well as contemporary thematic interests. Themes include loyalty, betrayal, nationalism and realpolitik. Also includes an autobiographical angle: Sileika learned an uncle he'd never met strangled a lover and hid her body in a well, a family secret he used this novel to process. Set in the Lithuanian city, where the author's mother grew up, and the Grand-Budapest-Hotel-esque tragicomic Hotel Metropolis. Potential blurbs from Francine Prose, Giles Blunt, Eva Stachniak, David Bergen.

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9781771962858

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Reviews

Praise for Provisionally Yours Offers the delightful unearthing of a little-known corner of the world--post-war Lithuania. Espionage, illicit love, bureaucratic bungling, marvelous descriptions of food and drink, strong women, desperate men. And subtle humour. And ultimately sadness, brought on by amorality in the struggle for power. A fine read. --David Bergen, Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author of The Time in Between Sileika is a master at portraying moral ambiguity. Set in an overlooked corner of Eastern Europe, Provisionally Yours has the gritty realism of a noir and the pacing of an espionage thriller. --Nino Ricci, author of the Lives of the Saints trilogy Praise for Antanas Sileika 'How are we going to survive unless we turn our hearts to stone?' a comrade warns the hero of Antanas Sileika's Underground. The question is an example of the elegant thinking that characterizes this rare and compelling chronicle. -Globe and Mail Sileika's novel is a gripping tale, and the fate of Lukas - how long his luck runs - engages the reader to the last page. -National Post Sileika writes with a spare style that suits the action sequences as well as the rare moments of tenderness or humour. Entertaining and sometimes shocking, the book describes a little-known period of European history that has been kept underground far too long. -Montreal Gazette Sileika vividly brings this little-known (to us) and very sad chapter of European history alive. -Toronto Star Evocative, unfailingly honest, and dead-on funny. - Miriam Toews The memories have been vividly, deliberately shaped by a master storyteller over a lifetime of telling, to powerful and often hilarious effect. . . This is a memoir with the dull bits removed, and the remaining highlights polished to a bright shine. - Quill & Quire (starred review) Some essays are quietly humorous; some, particularly toward the end, are melancholy. All are thoughtful and heartfelt. - Toronto Star Sileika, who in July retired from his long-time post as director of the Humber School for Writers, is first and foremost a storyteller. His memoir does not impart a strong sense of chronology; what it does do is leave the reader with vivid impressions of the writer's life, written largely in a wry, unsentimental style. A kind of truth. -Globe and Mail The Barefoot Bingo Caller is evocative, unfailingly honest, wry and dead-on funny! A masterful piece of writing like being entertained on a summer night by your closest and most charming friend. - Miriam Toews, bestselling and award-winning author of All My Puny Sorrows and A Complicated Kindness A wonderful book, worthy of Leacock. Funny and wistful, always engaging and wholly original, The Barefoot Bingo Caller charts the geography of belonging from the suburbs of Weston to the streets of Vilnius, from iconic Parisian bookstores to secret fishing holes in the backwoods of Ontario. - Will Ferguson, Giller prize-winning author of 419 and three-time winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour The Barefoot Bingo Caller soars in its descriptions of a boy's childhood and perfectly conveys with humour and aplomb the push and pull of the identity of an immigrant in a new land. - Catherine Gildiner, author of Too Close to the Falls Risky and refreshing ... These days, literary memoirs, in particular, tend to narrow in on a single, significant event or moment in time. The Barefoot Bingo Caller instead provides an overview of its narrator's entire life and does so to its advantage. -Literary Review of Canada

Praise for Provisionally Yours Timely...in the tradition of the Cold War spy and espionage novels of writers such as John Le Carr or even Graham Greene...a finely honed political thriller. --Toronto Star A perfect calibration of pace and depth, a lucid, stylish and bittersweet chronicle of a country's rebirth, and a thriller that is also a meditation. I loved this novel. --Samantha Harvey, Man Booker-nominated author of The Wilderness and The Western Wind Offers the delightful unearthing of a little-known corner of the world--post-war Lithuania. Espionage, illicit love, bureaucratic bungling, marvelous descriptions of food and drink, strong women, desperate men. And subtle humour. And ultimately sadness, brought on by amorality in the struggle for power. A fine read. --David Bergen, Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author of The Time in Between Sileika is a master at portraying moral ambiguity. Set in an overlooked corner of Eastern Europe, Provisionally Yours has the gritty realism of a noir and the pacing of an espionage thriller. --Nino Ricci, author of the Lives of the Saints trilogy Provisionally Yours moves swiftly through its well-orchestrated plot, with Sileika deftly integrating just enough historical detail. --Quill and Quire Praise for Antanas Sileika 'How are we going to survive unless we turn our hearts to stone?' a comrade warns the hero of Antanas Sileika's Underground. The question is an example of the elegant thinking that characterizes this rare and compelling chronicle. -Globe and Mail Sileika's novel is a gripping tale, and the fate of Lukas - how long his luck runs - engages the reader to the last page. --National Post Sileika writes with a spare style that suits the action sequences as well as the rare moments of tenderness or humour. Entertaining and sometimes shocking, the book describes a little-known period of European history that has been kept underground far too long. -Montreal Gazette Sileika vividly brings this little-known (to us) and very sad chapter of European history alive. -Toronto Star Evocative, unfailingly honest, and dead-on funny. -Miriam Toews The memories have been vividly, deliberately shaped by a master storyteller over a lifetime of telling, to powerful and often hilarious effect. . . This is a memoir with the dull bits removed, and the remaining highlights polished to a bright shine. -Quill & Quire (starred review) Some essays are quietly humorous; some, particularly toward the end, are melancholy. All are thoughtful and heartfelt. -Toronto Star Sileika, who in July retired from his long-time post as director of the Humber School for Writers, is first and foremost a storyteller. His memoir does not impart a strong sense of chronology; what it does do is leave the reader with vivid impressions of the writer's life, written largely in a wry, unsentimental style. A kind of truth. -Globe and Mail The Barefoot Bingo Caller is evocative, unfailingly honest, wry and dead-on funny! A masterful piece of writing like being entertained on a summer night by your closest and most charming friend. -Miriam Toews, bestselling and award-winning author of All My Puny Sorrows and A Complicated Kindness A wonderful book, worthy of Leacock. Funny and wistful, always engaging and wholly original, The Barefoot Bingo Caller charts the geography of belonging from the suburbs of Weston to the streets of Vilnius, from iconic Parisian bookstores to secret fishing holes in the backwoods of Ontario. -Will Ferguson, Giller prize-winning author of 419 and three-time winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour The Barefoot Bingo Caller soars in its descriptions of a boy's childhood and perfectly conveys with humour and aplomb the push and pull of the identity of an immigrant in a new land. -Catherine Gildiner, author of Too Close to the Falls Risky and refreshing ... These days, literary memoirs, in particular, tend to narrow in on a single, significant event or moment in time. The Barefoot Bingo Caller instead provides an overview of its narrator's entire life and does so to its advantage. -Literary Review of Canada

Praise for Provisionally Yours Offers the delightful unearthing of a little-known corner of the world--post-war Lithuania. Espionage, illicit love, bureaucratic bungling, marvelous descriptions of food and drink, strong women, desperate men. And subtle humour. And ultimately sadness, brought on by amorality in the struggle for power. A fine read. --David Bergen, Scotiabank Giller Prize-winning author of The Time in Between Praise for Antanas Sileika 'How are we going to survive unless we turn our hearts to stone?' a comrade warns the hero of Antanas Sileika's Underground. The question is an example of the elegant thinking that characterizes this rare and compelling chronicle . -Globe and Mail Sileika's novel is a gripping tale, and the fate of Lukas - how long his luck runs - engages the reader to the last page. -National Post Sileika writes with a spare style that suits the action sequences as well as the rare moments of tenderness or humour. Entertaining and sometimes shocking, the book describes a little-known period of European history that has been kept underground far too long. -Montreal Gazette Sileika vividly brings this little-known (to us) and very sad chapter of European history alive. -Toronto Star Evocative, unfailingly honest, and dead-on funny. - Miriam Toews The memories have been vividly, deliberately shaped by a master storyteller over a lifetime of telling, to powerful and often hilarious effect. . . This is a memoir with the dull bits removed, and the remaining highlights polished to a bright shine. - Quill & Quire (starred review) Some essays are quietly humorous; some, particularly toward the end, are melancholy. All are thoughtful and heartfelt. - Toronto Star Sileika, who in July retired from his long-time post as director of the Humber School for Writers, is first and foremost a storyteller. His memoir does not impart a strong sense of chronology; what it does do is leave the reader with vivid impressions of the writer's life, written largely in a wry, unsentimental style. A kind of truth. -Globe and Mail The Barefoot Bingo Caller is evocative, unfailingly honest, wry and dead-on funny! A masterful piece of writing like being entertained on a summer night by your closest and most charming friend. - Miriam Toews, bestselling and award-winning author of All My Puny Sorrows and A Complicated Kindness A wonderful book, worthy of Leacock. Funny and wistful, always engaging and wholly original, The Barefoot Bingo Caller charts the geography of belonging from the suburbs of Weston to the streets of Vilnius, from iconic Parisian bookstores to secret fishing holes in the backwoods of Ontario. - Will Ferguson, Giller prize-winning author of 419 and three-time winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour The Barefoot Bingo Caller soars in its descriptions of a boy's childhood and perfectly conveys with humour and aplomb the push and pull of the identity of an immigrant in a new land. - Catherine Gildiner, author of Too Close to the Falls Risky and refreshing ... These days, literary memoirs, in particular, tend to narrow in on a single, significant event or moment in time. The Barefoot Bingo Caller instead provides an overview of its narrator's entire life and does so to its advantage. Literary Review of Canada

Author Information

Antanas Sileika is the author of five books of fiction and a memoir. He has been short-listed for the Toronto Book Award and the Leacock Medal for Humour as well as long-listed for Canada Reads. His work has twice been chosen as among the Toronto Globe and Mail's best books of the year and received two stared reviews in Quill and Quire. He was the director of the Humber School for Writers for fifteen years before retiring to devote more time to his own writing.

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