Entitlement

Entitlement: a novel
Jonathan Bennett
ISBN: 978-1-55022-856-4
6 x 8.75", 288 pages, cloth
$27.95
Pub date: September 2008
Fiction
ECW Press / a misFit book

Entitlement is the tragic, wrenching story of Andy Kronk. After a lifetime intertwined with the Aspinalls, one of Canada's wealthiest families, Andy has finally forged a clean break. Mere months pass, however, before his past returns, and he finds himself, obediently, digging...

At its heart, Entitlement is a story about identity; about who we think we are and where we really stand. Set in rural Ontario and with excursions to Toronto and New York City, the novel takes a provocative and honest look at class, power, male relationships, death, and the familial bonds that tie, protect, and harm us most.

Andy's story is revealed to Trudy Clarke. Writing an Aspinall "tell-all" biography, she wants Kronk's take for her book. Reluctantly, Andy agrees to talk. He begins by explaining that when he quit practising law, all he wanted was a clean start and the privacy to live life on his own terms. But, as he explains over the course of a weekend interview, his boyhood boarding school entanglement with one of Canada's elite families became complicated and remains strong. As the weekend progresses, Andy grows comfortable. When he realizes that he's gone too far, said too much, it's too late...

"Entitlement...is a work that rewards close reading. Bennett demonstrates a real talent for evoking the affectless, indulgent "eccentricities" of the surpassingly (and perpetually) wealthy. One thing that people like this know how to do is dress up raw selfishness and egoism as world-weary sagacity. Bennett has an acute ear for exactly this sort of self-justifying twaddle, and renders it skillfully. He can weave a tale and has the chops to keep it all in a literary vein even in the midst of the accelerating mayhem. This is a good book with a crackerjack ending."

- Globe and Mail

"Entitlement vivisects the ways of power in Canada ... Bennett's storytelling is effortless in its pace and time shifts, and his dialogue glints like a sharpened knife."

- Charles Foran in the Walrus

"A brisk Canadian page-turner...Entitlement embraces the Brideshead themes, but with suspense and drive; I read it in mere hours."

- Philadelphia Weekly

"Bennett may be a poet, but he's also a damn fine storyteller, as he proved with his first novel, After Battersea Park, which he proved again in his collection of short stories, 2003's Verandah People, and which he proves conclusively in Entitlement. Was there ever a question that Jonathan Bennett was fast on his way to cementing his place in Canadian literature? There isn't anymore."

- January Magazine (on Entitlement)

"Told with conscientious pacing and an eerie final twist." - Quill & Quire

"The very best of all number of worlds and influences, and so thoroughly enjoyable. Fiction to get lost in, and once you've found your way out, there's much to reflect on about where you've been." - picklemethis.blogspot.com

"Jonathan Bennett's second novel . . . is a devastatingly earnest examination of power, secrets, and loyalty between friends. . . . Deftly written suspense ultimately gives way to an intense, unforgettable conclusion that will have readers ruminating long after the tale is all told." - Scene Magazine

"Entitlement weaves together brilliant imagery of Ontario's cottage country with a gutsy take on the complexity of male friendship....crafted skilfully and stitched together in some truly riveting final scenes. Entitlement is an ambitious novel with some brilliant flourishes..."
- Kitchener Waterloo Record

"Written in a style that sweeps you along and leaves you extremely satisfied, Entitlement is quite the accomplishment by Bennett. Fast-paced and packed with poignant plot, it is the type of read that keeps you on the edge of your seat, as if you were watching a thriller film."
- Sacramento Book Review