Cockroach by Rawi Hage

To read this book, you have to let loose preconceived ideas about how a plot is presented, and give yourself up to go along for a mad and exhilarating literary ride. The book opens with the main character, an immigrant to Canada from a war-torn homeland, attempting to commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree in a park. From there, he is ordered to undergo therapy sessions, and so begins the reader's entry into a life lived on the edge, a place of immense poverty, immense insanity. Fantastic writing, poetic prose, demented in a rich and lovely way.

Read more about Cockroach at the Anansi website.