GREER, Darren 1975(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1975, in Nova Scotia, Canada; partner's name Brian. Education: Attended University of King's College.

CAREER:

Author and AIDS activist.

WRITINGS:

Tyler's Cape (novel), Algonquin Press (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada), 2001.

Still Life with June (novel), Cormorant Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2003, St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2005.

Strange Ghosts (essays), Cormorant Books (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

Darren Greer is a Canadian novelist, essayist, and playwright. He is also a dedicated AIDS activist and advocate for awareness of all aspects of AIDS and its effects. His first two novels are Tyler's Cape and Still Life with June. Greer made his American fiction debut with the latter, which is a "novel about false/adopted selves," in which "not one of the characters, with the exception of June, is at ease with his or her real identity," observed Marnie Woodrow in the Globe and Mail. The novel's protagonist, Cameron Dobbs, is a thirty-year-old struggling writer and recovering addict who works at a Salvation Army treatment center. Cameron loves stories, especially those of the unfortunate, downtrodden, and out-of-luck. He goes to gay bars on Christmas Eve to hear the tales of sad, lonely men who have nowhere else to go on that important holiday. A grudging participant in a writers group that meets in a local chain bookstore, Cameron is happy enough to listen to others' stories, but refuses to read his own. Many deceptions and complications follow in the tale, during which the reader learns the good and bad sides of Cameron's character. The twists and turns lead up to a final revelation that brings the disparate stories and scattered identities together. "The journey toward this revelatory moment is as much fun as it is harrowing and poignant," Woodrow commented. "Greer's observations of addiction and corporate domination… are indeed sharp, his narrative voice infectious," Woodrow added. A Kirkus Reviews critic remarked that the novel is "replete with details so earnestly human that it's hard not to like Cameron," despite some unsavory aspects of his character. An Aliant.net writer commented that "Greer's writing is experimental and fresh, full of lists and letters and emails, and deserving of the rave reviews it's been receiving in the national press."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Advocate, August 30, 2005, Michael Rowe, "Thief of Stories," review of Still Life with June, p. 80.

Booklist, May 15, 2005, Whitney Scott, review of Still Life with June, p. 1634.

Globe and Mail (Toronto, Ontario, Canada), June 28, 2003, Marnie Woodrow, "Lost in the Big Bad World," review of Still Life with June, p. D10.

Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2005, review of Still Life with June, p. 439.

ONLINE

Aliant.net, http://english.aliant.net/ (July 14, 2006), interview with Darren Greer.

Writer's Union Canada Web site,http://www.writersunion.ca/ (July 14, 2006), biography of Darren Greer.*