Trevor Cole — Norman Bray ...

See what the Critics said:

"A triumph"

"Norman is the author of his own spectacular crash. But Cole ensures, with a delicate touch and fine writing, that we do not wholeheartedly cheer his hero's comeuppance.... The performance of his life has been far from a masterpiece for Norman Bray the actor, but Norman Bray the novel is a triumph for Trevor Cole."

Brian Bethune
Maclean's

"A book to be cherished"

"Brilliant and side-splitting funny.... Norman Bray in the Performance of His Life is a subtle work of art that transforms the story of a mundane actor into something older and less fathomable than a trendy tale of self-redemption among the self-absorbed.... This is a remarkable achievement, a book to be cherished both for the depths of its ironies and the breadth of its responsiveness.

T.F Rigelhof
Books in Canada

"Very, very funny"

"Toronto journalist Trevor Cole knows how to tell a story of the I-couldn't-put-it-down variety; 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. "

Don Hannah
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.... Somehow, though — and this is Cole's real coup — Norman retains a tattered nobility. In his unsparingly charted decline, the reader finds a rubber-necker's glee but also real sympathy.

Ian McGillis
Montreal Gazette

"It's really good"

"Cole belongs to the Truman Capote school of stylists; his prose is clear as a mountain stream. He picks his words very carefully and there is an overall sensation of pressurized language. Much the way coal makes diamonds under great pressure, one has the feeling that Cole's delay in writing a novel has resulted in the creation of his own kind of jewel."

David Gilmour
Toronto Star

Short-listed for: The Governor General's Award and
The Commonwealth Writer's Prize (Reg.) for Best First Book
Long-listed for: The IMPAC Dublin Literary Award
Adapted for Radio & Audio Book. Optioned for Film

Teetering on the edge of financial ruin and clinging to the faded light of his career, Norman must answer to the bank, his family, and, most of all, his own illusions about himself.... 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.