The Origin of Species

“Ricci’s dry, sardonic prose is sharp, with the cadence of natural thought that tumbles forward without getting lost….There’s a biting truth to Ricci’s stunning, cerebral look at the randomness of experience and how our life choices shape us.” —Boston Globe

“I loved this book. It’s a wonderful novel, unpredictable and hugely entertaining, full of big ideas and great, great, unforgettable characters.”—Roddy Doyle, author of The Deportees and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha

“Canadian writer Ricci’s fifth novel, winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction, is a masterly coming-of-age story… Highly recommended, especially for fans of fellow Canadian writer Alice Munro, with whom Ricci shares a knack for irony and a talent for characterization.”—Library Journal

“Ricci’s masterstroke to date. This novel does so well, on so many levels, that it’ s hard to know where to begin tallying up the riches. . . . An ambitious, thrilling novel that resists encapsulation and takes not a single misstep . . . it is also bitterly, achingly funny.”—Toronto Star

“The Origin of Species is a profoundly moving novel that lovingly creates a world of flawed but very real characters.”—Winnipeg Free Press

“An entertaining and emotionally rewarding read, this book will transport Nino Ricci to further heights of literary stardom and could well overtake his first, Lives of the Saints, as his signature work–much as the original Origin of Species did to the career and life of Charles Darwin.”–Ottawa Citizen