The Death of Tony: On Belonging in Two Worlds
A delightful and evocative memoir by Leacock Medal nominee Antanas Sileika.
The acclaimed novelist who wrote this book wasn't always Antanas. Growing up in the immigrant hub of Weston, Ontario--with a childhood of Lithuanian summer camp, folk dancing, and booze-soaked Christmases--Sileika was known to friends and teachers as Tony. It wasn't until he entered university and began to understand his deep attachment to his heritage that he shed the anglicized name and became Antanas Sileika, the writer who straddles two worlds.
In animated, entertaining prose, Sileika recounts his time as a young writer in Paris, the dramatic events surrounding Lithuanian independence and the fall of the Soviet Union, and his growing involvement in Lithuania's political and cultural spheres. Proud of his heritage but unafraid to explore its darker chapters, he touches in this book on the Holocaust and the gulag, as well as the new threats facing Eastern Europe today. Laced with humour and wry observations, The Death of Tony is a tribute to the immigrant experience, a primer for Canadian readers on the history and culture of an underrepresented nation, and above all a sensitive exploration of this author's bifurcated identity.
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Antanas Sileika is the author of six works of fiction, including most recently the novel Some Unfinished Business. His short story collection Buying on Time was nominated for the City of Toronto Book Award and the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour, and his novel Provisionally Yours has been adapted for both film and television. Beyond writing fiction, Sileika worked as a journalist and taught for many years at Humber College, eventually becoming director of the Humber School for Writers. He is now retired and lives in Toronto.
Praise for The Death of Tony
"Intelligent and observant... illuminates the experiences of a little-discussed ethnic group while probing the meanings of real and imagined homelands. A thoughtful reading experience."
--Kirkus Reviews
Praise for Antanas Sileika's Previous Work:
"...Some Unfinished Business is a moving, page-turning examination of loyalty, betrayal, retribution and, ultimately, love, written by an acclaimed author at the height of his powers."
--Gary Barwin, author of Yiddish for Pirates
"The Barefoot Bingo Caller is evocative, unfailingly honest, and dead-on funny! A masterful piece of writing."
--Miriam Toews, author of Women Talking
On Underground "... an example of the elegant thinking that characterizes this rare and compelling chronicle."
--Donna Bailey Nurse in The Globe and Mail
On Provisionally Yours "... an urbane thriller."
--Publishers Weekly
On Woman in Bronze "... written in deceptively easy prose [...] superbly told."
--Michael Redhill in The Globe and Mail
On Buying on Time "Antanas Sileika has made a significant contribution to the body of immigrant literature."
--Philip Marchand in the Toronto Star
On Dinner at the End of the World "The art is in the telling, and these stories are wonderfully told."
--Wayne Grady in the Toronto Star
"Antanas Sileika is one of the quiet stars of CanLit, creating memorable, complex, and enthralling stories in his five novels and his memoir."
--Open Book Interview
