Leper Tango

Leper Tango is a heady mix of Chandler, Miller, Breton and ... MacKinnon.

Franck Robinson, forty-something, chaser of skirts, usually the low-end sidewalk variety, combs the streets of Paris in search of Sheba, whom he imagines to be the ultimate Parisian whore. Franck drifts from bordello to bar, and ultimately finds himself trapped by his own demons of alcohol and a fatal attraction. With this hilarious novel, the Canadian MacKinnon showcases a talent for the absurd and a mastery of language reminiscent of Henry Miller.

May I be blunt? I loved Leper Tango. It wasn't at all what I expected, but I still devoured the thing whole. I'm going to hunt down MacKinnon's backlist and read it as soon as I can ... Leper Tango is not to be missed. It's not for everyone, but those who can withstand its blunt language and unvarnished situations will never forget it.

Not since Henry Miller has the reader been taken on such a high energy tour of the seedier side of Paris. David MacKinnon in his novel, Leper Tango, has a lively, wry and sarcastic sense of humour rarely seen in novels. And best of all the reader is taken on a wild ride of the seamier areas of Montreal such as explored in Michel Tremblay's play, Ste-Carmen de la Main.

The writing reminds me by turns of Henry Miller, Hunter Thompson, Malaparte and Blaise Cendrars... Leper Tango also put me in mind of a James M. Cain novel, Postman, especially. Only better written. The observations, sidereal stuff, similes, metaphors, analogies, all that is superb. Also, I like the supporting cast, Tranh, especially, but the second tier hookers, as well. I don`t know who the hell in this country could do any better, certainly no one is writing with such wild style.