Overview

The asocial, sexually repressed Edgar, kneeling in grief at his mother's graveside, turns abruptly to witness a terrifying and life-altering event: the brutal rape of a young woman. Compelled by muddled instinct (and ingrained religious conviction), our hero bears the unconscious victim home, solemnly pledging to care for her and to act as her saviour. As winter closes in, the captor's neuroses are revealed and his behaviour becomes increasingly violent, allowing the victim only one escape. With The Obese Christ, Larry Tremblay squarely situates himself within the realm of Hitchcock, Polanski, and Stephen King. A brilliant exercise in unease and paranoia, The Obese Christ demonstrates Tremblay's powerful ability to evoke dead and fear, while immersing the reader in a wrapped and putrid world told from Edgar's sanctified point of view.

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9780889228429

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Reviews

""And though he talks to people, there’s not a single dialogue exchange in the entire book. This dehumanizing device depicts the way Edgar uses others solely to enact his mutating justifications as he moves from rescue to kidnapping to murder to exorcism – it’s dreadful, but incredibly effective as a technique. There are not many books that make this reader’s flesh crawl, but The Obese Christ is undoubtedly one of them."" – Montreal Review of Books “This disturbing novel slowly and ingeniously unfolds, revealing an ever-darkening scenario. … Suspense is cleverly built up, understanding subtly created. … an intense and gripping journey enhanced by Tremblay’s lyrical, evocative language, his effective narrative technique, and his meticulous attention to the everyday, often unappetizing, details of housework, clothing, bodies.” – Event magazine “This cinematographic novel advances with machinelike precision worthy of Hitchcock.” – Le Soleil “Larry Tremblay has concocted an amazing psycho-religious thriller.” – Voir

And though he talks to people, there's not a single dialogue exchange in the entire book. This dehumanizing device depicts the way Edgar uses others solely to enact his mutating justifications as he moves from rescue to kidnapping to murder to exorcism - it's dreadful, but incredibly effective as a technique. There are not many books that make this reader's flesh crawl, but The Obese Christ is undoubtedly one of them. - Montreal Review of Books Larry Tremblay has concocted an amazing psycho-religious thriller. - Voir This cinematographic novel advances with machinelike precision worthy of Hitchcock. - Le Soleil This disturbing novel slowly and ingeniously unfolds, revealing an ever-darkening scenario. ... Suspense is cleverly built up, understanding subtly created. ... an intense and gripping journey enhanced by Tremblay's lyrical, evocative language, his effective narrative technique, and his meticulous attention to the everyday, often unappetizing, details of housework, clothing, bodies. - Event magazine

And though he talks to people, there's not a single dialogue exchange in the entire book. This dehumanizing device depicts the way Edgar uses others solely to enact his mutating justifications as he moves from rescue to kidnapping to murder to exorcism - it's dreadful, but incredibly effective as a technique. There are not many books that make this reader's flesh crawl, but The Obese Christ is undoubtedly one of them. - Montreal Review of Books This disturbing novel slowly and ingeniously unfolds, revealing an ever-darkening scenario. ... Suspense is cleverly built up, understanding subtly created. ... an intense and gripping journey enhanced by Tremblay's lyrical, evocative language, his effective narrative technique, and his meticulous attention to the everyday, often unappetizing, details of housework, clothing, bodies. - Event magazine This cinematographic novel advances with machinelike precision worthy of Hitchcock. - Le Soleil Larry Tremblay has concocted an amazing psycho-religious thriller. - Voir

Author Information

Larry Tremblay is a writer, director, actor and specialist in Kathakali, an elaborate dance theatre form which he has studied on numerous trips to India. He has published more than twenty books as a playwright, poet, novelist and essayist, and he is one of Quebec's most-produced and translated playwrights (his plays have been translated into twelve languages). The publication of Talking Bodies (Talonbooks, 2001) brought together four of his plays in English translation. He played the role of Leo in his own play Le Declic du destin in many festivals in Brazil and Argentina. The play received a new production in Paris in 1999 and was highly successful at the Festival Off in Avignon in 2000. Thanks to an uninterrupted succession of new plays (Anatomy Lesson, Ogre, The Dragonfly of Chicoutimi, Les Mains bleues, Teleroman, among others) in production during the '90s, Tremblay's work continues to achieve international recognition. His plays, premiered for the most part in Montreal, have also been produced, often in translation, in Italy, France, Belgium, Mexico, Columbia, Brazil, Argentina and Scotland. In 2001, Le Ventriloque had three separate productions in Paris, Brussels and Montreal; it has since been translated into numerous languages. More recently, Tremblay collaborated with Welsh Canadian composer John Metcalf on a new opera: A Chair in Love, a concert version of which premiered in Montreal in April 2005. In 2006 he was awarded the Canada Council Victor Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award for his contribution to the theatre. He was a finalist in 2008 and 2011 for the Siminovitch Prize. One of Quebec's most versatile writers, Tremblay currently teaches acting at l'cole superieure de thetre de l'Universite du Quebec Montreal.

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