Review: We Are The New Auroras Authored by Adam Daniel Mezei

ISBN: 0595380697

The following review was contributed by: NORM GOLDMAN: Editor of Bookpleasures. CLICK TO VIEW Norm Goldman's Reviews

As a loyal Canadian, I am delighted to see that within the last several years
there have been quite a few Canadian authors who are making their mark in the
international literary scene. Just looking over the undergraduate calendar of my
old alma mater, I noticed that there are now 7 courses devoted to Canadian
Literature, whereas when I attended University over 50 years ago there may have
been one or two. As a side note, when Canada’s famous poet, Irving Layton, who
recently passed away, was teaching in a Hebrew parochial school, he had been
dismissed, as he had the audacity to sell his risqué poetry books to his
students! This was back in the 1950s. How things have changed!

Today, Canada can boast many literary figures who have gained international
reputations as: Margaret Atwood, Hugh MacLennan, Mordechai Richler, Irving
Layton, Michael Ondaatje, and several others. Yes, Canada is alive and kicking
and still continues to produce some fine young authors, whom I am sure will be
shortly taking their place among their Canadian peers, as well as within the
ranks of many well-known international authors.

This brings me to a fine young author, screenwriter, and novelist, thirty-two
year old Adam Daniel Mezei, who is of Czech extraction, and now makes his home
in Vancouver, B.C. Drawing on his background as an incessant traveler that has
exposed him to many “delectable" cultures, Mezei has compiled a collection of
thirty short stories crafted within a period of thirty days all contained in We
Are The New Auroras. Mezei mentions in his Forward, “he wished to immortalize
the many things I had read about, heard, and seen with my very own eyes over
this eventful three decade-long period in my life."

Mezei is a born story teller in every sense of the word. In succinct and
unencumbered prose he narrates tales about individuals, wherein some are
tragically flawed or are perhaps flawed due to political, social or economic
circumstances beyond their control. However, most of them endear themselves to
the reader, as Mezei captures their unique and sometimes mesmerizing
personalities, as well as the conflicts they endure.

Among Mezei's gripping depictions is Bhimrao Yadav, a Dalit from Bangalore, India,
who on his way to work one day comes to the aid of an elderly man run over by
an errant rickshaw. As a result of being the Good Samaritan, Bhimrao was more
than sixty minutes late for work- something he never previously experienced.
When his superior questioned him as to why he was late, Bhimrao proceeded to
explain, and “to his shock and dismay the boss was unmoved," resulting in his
being reprimanded for his tardiness. Apparently, Dalits are looked down upon in
Indian society and if they should succeed in gaining employment, they should be
grateful, according to the companies that hire them. Eventually, Bhimrao is
fired because he will not sign a form that will dock an hour from his pay
cheque.

We learn about Valeriy Branko, the drunk, whose only saving grace had been from
his books, and who strives to quit drinking Karel Handzak, the youngest mayor
of Prague, who was untouched by scandal and brings breath of fresh air the
gross and overweight Internet addict who falls in love with Sheila, whom he is
too frightened to meet for fear he will be rejected.

These are but a few glimpses of the many poignant powerful stories portraying
touching inner voices that produce a lasting lingering effect long after you put
the book down. Certainly worth a read!