A Year of Lesser: A Novel

by David Bergen

When Johnny thinks about Loraine and her touch, it's as if the Holy Spirit is tickling his spine. But Johnny is more than tickled when he finds out Loraine is pregnant with his child. An almost-saved Christian, a not-quite-sober alcoholic and part-time lover of Loraine, Johnny is not sure where his wife Charlene fits into this complex love triangle of women, men, desires and truth. He's even less sure where Chris, Loraine's teenaged son, and Melody, Chris' pregnant girlfriend, belong in his life as a husband, lover, and volunteer coordinator of the town of Lesser's teen drop-in center.A feed supply salesman whose history extends only as far as he can remember, Johnny longs for a spiritual salvation, but finds beauty and truth in the soft, warm flesh of the women he loves. Charlene's final, fiery truth lies in her inability to come to terms with Johnny's earthly morality.

An extraordinarily talented new author, Bergen achieves a finely tuned balance in his work: his tone is realistic, shot with ironic insight, replete with astonishing, but seemingly casually placed universal truths, seamlessly woven into an absorbing story of people struggling with their souls in a small prairie town.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Literary Fiction

215 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 1997

About the author

Born in Port Edward, British Columbia, author David Bergen worked as a writer and high school English teacher in Winnipeg, Manitoba, before gaining a great deal of recognition in Canada when his novel The Time In Between won the 2005 Scotiabank Giller Prize, one of Canada's most prestigious literary awards. The novel also received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews and was longlisted for the 2007 IMPAC Award.

Bergen's debut novel, A Year of Lesser, was a New York Times Notable Book, and a winner of the McNally Robinson Book of the Year award in 1997. His 2002 novel The Case of Lena S. was a finalist for the Governor General's Award for English language fiction, and won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award. It was also a finalist for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.

Additionally, Bergen has received the 1993 John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer, and the 2000 Canadian Literary Award for Short Story.

In 2008, he published his fifth novel, The Retreat, which was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and which won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.

Bergen currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba with his family.

Reviews

[Salty Swift · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johnny has been having an affair with Loraine for a number of years. His wife, Charlene, finds out about the affair, and the aftermath is tragic. Add to the mix, Loraine's 14 year old son Chris and his girlfriend who gets pregnant, and you have a mix for a perfect shitstorm. A tale of redemption in a small Manitoba town that showcases Johnny's decisions to be the cause of his stubborn level-headness and refusal to subscribe to the town's norms and group-think.

[Lucas]

I really don't know what to think about this book.

[Camille Sangarapillai · Rating 1 out of 5]

Vulgar and disgusting, no character growth. It was a disappointing and, frankly, an unsettling read.

[Phyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book.... i recall when it came out the fuss in my small town Manitoba!!! Alot of people saw themselves or their "neighbors" as characters in this book (a town where Bergen had lived for a number of years)....

Frankly, the story was great but i also enjoyed imagining who might have been the inspiration for which characters... naughty of me perhaps but none the less.... enjoyed the book very much.

[Joe · Rating 1 out of 5]

Highly stereotyped, unlikeable characters throughout. Weak female characters. Bigoted, sexist, abusive and oppressive male characters.
Didn't really enjoy the writing style or voice.
The only parts of this book I really liked were the descriptions of small-town regions of Manitoba, which felt pretty apt and accurate.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like bergen's writing and this book is poignant and rather beautifully written. but at the same time, something didn't quite connect - it is a similar feeling i have had reading other books he has written.

[Samantha Steg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wasn't too impressed with this book, unfortuantely. I'm from a town near where the town in this book takes place, and it was just too close to home I think. I pictured the town, I pictured the people...it was weird.

[Richard Janzen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is quite interesting for me to read authors from the Mennonite tradition. This book is an interesting mix of sex and being an outcast and yearning for some kind of salvation.