Homer in Flight

In this satirical and often humorous novel, Homerwad Santokie, long dissatisfied with his life in Trinidad, decides to emigrate to the land of promise -- Canada. But leaving his homeland turns out to be not exactly what he had imagined. Homer in Flight follows him from a low-rent high-rise to a basement apartment in the suburbs, from a job in a Nutrapure juice factory to employment as a librarian. Although Homer eventually achieves a version of success -- marriage, a good job and fatherhood -- he veers from bravery to bravado, his grandiose dreams out of sync with his all-to-ordinary experiences.

Rabindranath Maharaj, a Trinidadian teacher and journalist, wrote several of the stories in the Interloper during the year he spent in Fredericton. He now writes and teaches in Toronto.