Short-listed for: The 2004 Governor General's Award
Short-listed for: The Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best First Book (Canada & Carib.)
Long-listed for: The IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
Adapted for Radio & Audio Book.
Optioned for Film
Short-listed for: The Commonwealth Writer's Prize for Best First Book (Canada & Carib.)
Long-listed for: The IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
Adapted for Radio & Audio Book.
Optioned for Film
"A book to be cherished"
"Brilliant and side-splitting funny.... a remarkable achievement, a book to be cherished both for the depths of its ironies and the breadth of its responsiveness.
— Books in Canada
"Very, very funny"
"Norman's performance is filled with giddy surprises and wonderful set pieces. The book is smart and deft; it zips along. This is fine writing, with a light and generous touch."
— The Globe and Mail
"Sparkling"
"Trevor Cole, in his debut novel, has created a character as complex, infuriating, unpleasant and funny as any we've seen in a long time."
— Montreal Gazette
"It's really good"
"Cole belongs to the Truman Capote school of stylists; his prose is clear as a mountain stream."
— Toronto Star
"Brilliant and side-splitting funny.... a remarkable achievement, a book to be cherished both for the depths of its ironies and the breadth of its responsiveness.
— Books in Canada
"Very, very funny"
"Norman's performance is filled with giddy surprises and wonderful set pieces. The book is smart and deft; it zips along. This is fine writing, with a light and generous touch."
— The Globe and Mail
"Sparkling"
"Trevor Cole, in his debut novel, has created a character as complex, infuriating, unpleasant and funny as any we've seen in a long time."
— Montreal Gazette
"It's really good"
"Cole belongs to the Truman Capote school of stylists; his prose is clear as a mountain stream."
— Toronto Star
Trevor Cole’s debut novel garnered rave reviews and comparisons to Truman Capote and Kingsley Amis. Skewering and darkly funny, yet poignant and tender, Norman Bray in the Performance of His Life explores the fragility of ego and the precarious ties of love and family, while finding the humanity and black comedy in the plight of a man who has reached the end of the line — and has only himself to blame.
Also by Trevor Cole
Jean Vale Horemarsh is everyone's idea of a good friend and neighbour. Until the day she decides the future looks very dark indeed, and she can't let the people she loves suffer.
Gerald Woodlore has a lot to worry about — a son coming home early from Afghanistan, a wife going quietly mad, and a business on the ropes. What are the limits of one man's ability to keep the bad things at bay?
Click on the books for more details.
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See a video clip of Trevor's father, Bill Cole, the man who became the model for Norman Bray, here.
(In this clip, he discusses an early 1970s musical version of Jane Eyre, which had just opened up at Toronto's Royal Alexandra Theatre, after a successful run at the Charlottetown Festival. In the production, Cole played the male lead, Edward Rochester.)