Because

Andrew Steinmetz

An engrossing punk-rock novel about teenage daydreams and sibling dynamics

Teenage brothers Hombre and Transformer spend their days locked up in their suburban Montreal bedroom, writing songs and dreaming of stardom. Hombre, the younger one, is quiet, contemplative, and talented, a poet in the making. His older brother Transformer is stubborn, domineering, and secretly struggling with mental health issues. Their sequestered world is broken open one summer when their mother hires Spit, a girl from the local guitar shop, to help the boys improve their modest skills. But these good intentions set off a chain reaction with tragic consequences.

Set in the early 80s, in a local music scene brimming with post-punk ethos and a disdain for classic rock, Because is a wry and charming depiction of a sibling relationship founded on feverish angst, unspoken admiration, jealousy, and the pursuit of the greatest song they can write from their own room.

Esplanade Books
2023

Andrew Steinmetz is the author of five previous books. This Great Escape: The Case of Michael Paryla was a finalist for the 2013 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction, and Eva's Threepenny Theatre won the City of Ottawa Book Award and was a finalist for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. A life-long musician, Steinmetz formed the band Weather Permitting in 1985. In the 1990s, he was a member of the alt-country band Good Cookies. He lives in Ottawa.

Other books by Andrew Steinmetz:
Wardlife: The apprenticeship of a young writer as a hospital clerk
Histories
Pre-order now
Available June 2023
Trade paperback
280 pp 7.5" x 5"
ISBN13: 9781550656190

CDN $21.95
US & International
US $17.95

Ebook
ISBN13: 9781550656268

CDN $13.99