TURVEY. A Military Picaresque.
Toronto: McClelland & Stewart Limited. 1949. First Edition, Second Impression. Octavo, original red cloth. 288 pp. A very good copy in a good dust jacket, chipped and worn, old ragged tears that have some interior tape stains from old repair. Sounds worse than it looks, it still presents well. Item #313767
¶ Comic novel, based on the author’s experiences in the Canadian Army during the Second World War. It follows the hapless and accident prone Thomas “Tops” Turvey as he enlists in the Army in the hopes of joining his friend Mac in the Kootenay Highland Regiment. He ends up subjected to military bureaucracy, never quite making it to the front, despite his best efforts. Birney, known primarily for his poetry not his prose, won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour fir this novel. A casualty before he has a chance to see action, Turvey watches the maimed and dying return from the front; thus Earle Birney’s comic masterpiece becomes an unforgettable indictment of war.
Price (CAD): $25.00