Dirty Birds, by Morgan Murray

This book has been on my radar ever since it came out, since Morgan Murray is published by Breakwater Books (as am I) and his debut novel has scooped up some pretty serious credits in its short life. The book was longlisted for Canada Reads and shortlisted for the prestigious Leacock Medal (for Canadian humour). So although it took me awhile to work through my to-read list to get to this one, I was looking forward to it.

Dirty Birds is an engaging, sometimes even rollicking, journey through the coming-of-age of a young Everyman from Saskatchewan with the improbable name of Milton Ontario (of course he has to spend a lot of time explaining that’s his name, not where he’s from). Distinguishing himself at nothing in particular throughout high school and trades college, and disappointing a family who hopes he can get a good-paying job in the oil patch, Milton decides he wants to be a poet. He takes off on a cross-country bus to settle in the city of his dreams, home of his idol Leonard Cohen: Montreal.

Milton’s misadventures in Montreal — his unlikely assortment of roommates, the jobs he gets and fails to keep, the girl he falls hopelessly in love with but can’t impress, and his utter lack of success as a poet — all make for entertaining reading.

Dirty Birds has been compared to writers as lofty and literary as Kurt Vonnegut (and I guess being shortlisted for the Leacock award means it’s been compared to Stephen Leacock, on some level) but the first half of this book reminded me, more than anything, of one of my all-time favourite coming-of-age novels (which I’m relatively sure was not an inspiration for Murray, because it’s an 80s book that’s now quite obscure), Emma Who Saved My Life by Wilton Barnhardt. Just another aimless, gormless young wannabe artist, obsessed with a girl and unable to get his own life together, but describing it so well that it’s hilarious rather than annoying as it would be if you knew this guy in real life. Even Milton’s terrible Montreal shared apartment reminded me of Gil’s ever-descending scale of worse and worse New York accommodations.

BUT THEN.

Partway through, this novel takes quite the turn, from bildungsroman to thriller, or at least to a satire on thrillers, with Milton on the run from the unlikeliest crime boss of all time … and the hijinks just get wackier from there to the end.

I found this a fun and engaging read. I wasn’t entirely satisfied with the ending, but I do think it’s incredibly difficult to stick the landing on a story as sprawling, farcical, and twisted as this one, and it’s probably the best ending that could be found for this novel. A very enjoyable reading experience.