Books: New Canadian Blues

THE LUCK OF GINGER COFFEY (293 pp.) —Brian Moore—Atlantic-Little, Brown ($4).

James Francis ("Ginger") Coffey has discovered the secret of eternal boyhood. He never faces facts. Born in Dublin "in humble circs" but now a status-seeking New Canadian immigrant, Ginger daily imagines his ship will come in even while he founders at some bar. With a flaming red mustache and a bluff military stance acquired in the Irish Army, Ginger leads his troupes of sentimental illusions and heroic reveries straight into the machine-gun fire of reality.

Old Maids & Galley Slaves. Belfast-born Canadian Novelist...

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