The Butcher of Park Ex: and Other Semi-Truthful Tales (22)

by Andreas Kessaris

Kessaris manages to convey a sense of shared history through the prose itself, bringing the Montreal immigrant experience to life with wry humour and painstaking attention to detail. ― Montreal Review of Books The Butcher of Park Ex is a humorous collection of personal stories inspired by the author's life growing up in Montreal's Park Extension neighbourhood, with Greek immigrant parents who never quite adapted to life in their new country. Never really fitting in with his ethnic community, and never feeling like part of mainstream Quebec or Canadian society, he sets out on an over forty-year search for answers, encountering amazingly interesting people and unique misadventures while trying to navigate a world where he is constantly the odd man out.

Genres: Canada

215 pages, Paperback

Published October 1, 2020

About the author

𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐊𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬 grew up in Montreal's Park Extension district, the son of Greek immigrants. He graduated from Dawson College and Concordia University, earning a BA in Communications & English. His column, Read On! with Andreas Kessaris, was a popular feature in the West-End community paper The Local Herald. His writing has also appeared on Suite101.com, in the literary journal The Write Place, and on the Montreal entertainment website Curtainsup.tv, The Miramichi Reader, and The Montreal Review of Books. His books include 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘽𝙪𝙩𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙀𝙭 (2020) and 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙂𝙧𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙏𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙤𝙛 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙀𝙭 (2025). He currently resides in Montreal with his partner. Follow him on Bluesky (@akessaris.bsky.social) or Instagram (andreas_kessaris).

Reviews

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review copy kindly provided by the staff of Guernica Editions.

In this collection of short stories, Andreas Kessaris relates various moments of his life in the Park Extension neighbourhood of Montréal, Quebec, in the midst of a raucous community of Greek immigrants. Kessaris candidly admits to exercising some artistic license, but even so, the stories have the ring of truth about them.

He presents us with vignettes from his life. We see his first days in school, summer antics on a vacant lot or at the beach, misadventures in Boy Scouts, awkward attempts to impress girls or rise to stardom, encounters with celebrities, and so on. He is supported by a colourful cast of characters, including his parents, whose English is profusely ornamented with Greek words and phrases, the school-teacher who is cruel and kind by turns, the encyclopedia salesperson who (like the proverbial cat) refuses to stay away, bikers who startle him, music teachers who avoid him, and of course the eponymous butcher whose counter is a meeting place for a Greek community brimming with the urge to talk.

Through all these stories there runs a subtle current of discontent. Kessaris feels that he never quite fits in. He has trouble obeying the rules. He responds inappropriately in certain situations. Desperately anxious to obtain the acceptance of others, he often hits a wrong note, or strikes out completely in relationships. And, it must be admitted, his family and friends do not always make things easier for him. But in the final story, which somehow pulls all the previous ones together, he finds some answers to his questions and the missing pieces of his personal puzzle.

Kessaris is a born storyteller who immerses the reader in his world. He makes you feel as if you know his characters, or people like them. He vividly recreates childhood scenes, but does not spoil them with excessive nostalgia. His tone is by turns comic, tragic or sarcastic, but always honest and intense.

[Saul · Rating 5 out of 5]

In a nutshell, can I tell you what I loved about this book? It contains an emotional conclusion, yes – but more importantly, an intellectual and practical one, too. It's wonderfully charming, sad, hilarious, arresting... and uplifting. It might be the author's first book, but it doesn't read like it. Kessaris is a genuine talent.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Butcher of Park Ex is simply a delightful and entertaining read. Throughout the book, I found myself laughing out loud at the hilarious and sometimes awkward situations that the author recounts with vivid detail and great authenticity. There were moments that stirred and touched me, eliciting tears and feelings of nostalgia. It is easy to connect with the main character, the author himself, in these tales that don’t feel “semi truthful” but completely genuine and true. Love love loved it!! Can’t wait for the next book from talented Andreas Kessaris.

[Christine Trudel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Butcher of Park Ex and Other Semi-Truthful Tales are vignettes from Andreas Kessaris's life. I especially enjoyed the stories from his childhood growing up in Montreal's Park Extension neighbourhood. These stories were laugh-out-loud funny, but also deeply moving and heartwarming. His Greek-immigrant parents are vividly portrayed and truly unforgettable. A common thread running through this collection is the author's unshakeable feeling of being an outcast who continually fails to fit in with his family, schoolmates, friends and romantic partners. Anyone who has ever felt like an outsider looking in will relate to Andreas Kessaris's entertaining and affecting stories.

[Amy]

What a treat! These real and humorous short stories brought to life the very neighborhood I grew up in. Andreas Kessaris does not hold back. His stories honest, passionate and bittersweet. I am looking forward to more stories from this talented writer!

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

A delightful book from start to finish. The stories are pithy, poignant, witty, and endearing, as the author weaves a web of personal narratives, taking the reader through the streets and lanes of the Park Ex neighbourhood. It’s a particularly good read for the Montrealaise, as you recognize streets and establishments which when you pass by later you can recall, “This is where Andreas Kessaris once was.”

[Costa Voutsinas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure: Just like the author, who is a year younger than myself, I also grew up in Park Extension. The stories and anecdotes he shares in the book rekindled so many memories for me as they would for most Greek children who walked the streets (and lanes) of Stuart, Wiseman, Champagneur, Bloomfield, St-Roch, Ogilvy, Ball, and all the way to Beaumont or de Liege. Andreas' writing skills are in full display throughout the book as his impressive, precise memory, and ability to recant such detail about the many events and social interactions in his life, likely due to his diagnosis. It was a pleasure to devour this book as so much of my own life has mirrored some aspects of Andreas'. I admire the courage he leans on to allow so many of his private thoughts and mishaps to be recorded forever on the printed pages.
Any ethnic 50-60 something of Italian, Portuguese, or Greek descent will undoubtedly love reading Andreas' tales from the Park-ex hood.

[Arlenebethenglandergmail.Com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andreas takes us on a tour of growing up as an immigrant in Montreal in these stories of his youth and then adds a psychological twist at the end that explains so much, and is so enlightening. Although I’m an experienced psychotherapist, there were aspects of what ensued that hadn’t made sense to me until the end of the book - and when I did understand it heightened my compassion
A truly worthwhile read.

[Julie Barlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not sure I've ever read a writer who transmits "dead pan" humour to the page quite as well as Andreas Kessaris does. Every chapter fells like a little TV episode! A quirky and irreverent voyage into Montreal's community of Greek immigrants (and their offspring!), this is a truly moving tale about being "different" (that's kind of a euphemism, I don't want to give away the ending...). Highly recommended.

[FlowerPublish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astounding like biography for people whose parents who immigrated to Canada, though their culture still reside from their country of origin. Kessaris describes his stories that these quirks were not just you experiencing, everyone does. The butcher of Park Ex has it's own humor and a journey of an era to be discovered.

[Ericka Wicks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some humorous parts, but the writer leads the reader way too much. Fewer bracketed explanatory notes please.