The Artificial Newfoundlander: a novel

“A wry, funny, insightful, clever book.” -Wayne Johnston

“Larry Mathews is a searing and silver tongued wit. He writes with tuned precision and care, but he is offbeat and great fun to read. His juicy Newfoundland novel is a mystery of sorts, but there is another mystery hidden in its pages, whether a book can be barbed and satirical and yet lovingly lyrical at the same time. Is this feat possible? Mathews pulls it off with aplomb and I'm a fan.” - Mark Anthony Jarman, author of My White Planet and Ireland’s Eye

"This is all set in a blazingly contemporary St. John's, a city of films and cafes, art projects and bars, afternoon runs around Quidi Vidi lake and late nights walking uphill from Duckworth Street pubs... Mathews is the genuine article." -Joan Sullivan, The Telegram

"Mathews' first novel provides an interesting and, at times, humorous account of the relationships of Professor Hugh Norman and his life in contemporary Newfoundland." -Clare O'Connor, Atlantic Books Today

"From the tongue-in-cheek first line onward, Larry Mathews had me hooked. The Artificial Newfoundlander is a genuinely funny, thoroughly engaging story told with wit, lyricism, and a raucous narrative drive." -Samuel Thomas Martin, Dark Art Cafe (samuelthomasmartin.wordpress.com)

"If you are a lover of Lisa Moore and a maniac for Michael Winter, like me, then The Artificial Newfoundlander is a treasure the likes of the Rosetta Stone. It's a zany and rowdy look at both our East Cost openness and the over-analytical English studies, all delivered with Richler-like cleverness." -Mike Landry, Telegraph-Journal

"Mathews' sense of the absurdity of academic life is close on hilarious, and his take on the sometimes overblown St. John's art scene even funnier." -Jean Graham, The Northeast Avalon Times

"The novel engages with the deeper topics of place, family, and literature. It prompts us to consider not where a person is from in determining who they are, but how he relates to the important people in his life, and how he makes a place his home." Jennifer Bowering Delisle, Newfoundland and Labrador Studies, Fall 2010