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Crossing Borders with Richard Ford

CANADA, a novel by Richard Ford

During this program Pulitzer Prize-winning author Richard Ford talks about and reads from his latest novel, Canada. He also considers character motivation, aging, the usefulness of fiction, and the many border crossings in the novel.

About the book:

First, I'll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then the murders, which happened later.

In 1956, Dell Parsons' family came to a stop in Great Falls, Montana, the way many military families did after the war. His father, Bev, was a talkative airman from Alabama with an optimistic and easy-scheming nature. Their mother Neeva – shy, artistic – was alienated from their father's small-town world. It was more bad instincts and bad luck that Dell's parents decided to rob the bank. They weren't reckless people.

In the days following the arrest, Dell is saved before the authorities think to arrive. Driving across Montana, his life hurtles towards the unknown; a hotel in a deserted town, the violent and enigmatic Arthur Remlinger, and towards Canada itself. But, as Dell discovers, in this new world of secrets and upheaval, he is not the only one whose past lies on the other side of a border.

The music in this program was written and recorded by John Floridis.

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Richard Ford
Richard Ford

Richard Ford was born in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1944. He is the author of the Bascombe novels, which include The Sportswriter and its sequels, Independence Day (the first novel to win the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award) and The Lay of the Land, , as well as the short story collections Rock Springs and A Multitude of Sins. Canada is his most recent novel. Richard Ford lives in Maine with his wife, Kristina Ford.

Chérie Newman is a former arts and humanities producer and on-air host for Montana Public Radio, and a freelance writer. She founded and previously hosted a weekly literary program, The Write Question, which continues to air on several public radio stations; it is also available online at PRX.org and MTPR.org.
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