Dr Swarthmore

'If for nothing else, Alexander Scala's short novel Dr. Swarthmore must be praised for its cheek -- a 130-page disquisition on faith, science and commerce set at the turn of the 19th century. As every genuine piece of literature is always being characterized more by its form than its content, Dr. Swarthmore is all the more pleasantly peculiar by McCanLit's rigidly naturalistic standards by virtue of its carton realism and playful sense of smart humour.' -- Ray Robertson Toronto Star 'Assuredly the first novel of the new millennium in which the Second Person of the Trinity has a walk-on part in a cheap suit.' -- Jason F.X. Demolay Iron Rain Review 'Dr. Swarthmore is arresting, Blount is ineffable, and Dr. Beecham is debonair, but the stomach pump steals the show.' -- Willoughby Strongapple Euphorbia: A Magazine of the Arts 'It's rural Indiana in the year 1900, and Dr. Swarthmore, a clergyman, attempts to sell doomsday to his fellow Hoosiers at 50 cents per doom. A first novel from Kingston, Ontario, resident Alexander Scala, Dr. Swarthmore is a coal-black diamond of a book -- deliciously satiric, studded with masterly turns of phrase and meaning, striking images and spectral revelations.' -- Jim Bartley Globe & Mail