Synopses & Reviews
Now that his hockey career is ending, what will become of his life?
Felix Batterinski grew up tough in Northern Ontario where hockey was the only way out of a life of grinding poverty. He got out and enjoyed fame as a hockey "enforcer" for the Philadelphia Flyers. But fame is fleeting.
Now in his thirties and at the end of his playing career, Felix tries to make a go of it as a player-coach for a Finnish club. As the lone Canadian on the team, he is an outsider with a reputation that takes on a life of its own. When a controversial play brings his comeback bid to a screeching halt, Felix is faced with his own obsolescence and begins a tragic descent into disillusion and despair.
Review
"[The Last Season] is so rich in meaning that to call it simply a hockey novel is misleading.... In giving Canadians Felix Batterinski, Roy MacGregor has shown them a vital part of themselves." Maclean's
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"Superb--far better than many Governor General's Award-winning novels since." The Toronto Star
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"A compelling fable about violence, superstition, love and the shallowness of modern life." Maclean's
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"MacGregor's description of this rural Ontario family is reminiscent of William Faulkner's descriptions of rural Mississippi families
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"Sports literature as good as it gets." The Vancouver Sun
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"The best book of fiction on hockey." The Edmonton Journal
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"Combining entries from her grandfather's diary with other reports and sources from the MacAlpine expedition, Karram's book tells a tale of misadventure and recovery that is worth reading." Altitude magazine
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"A classic Canadian novel." Calgary Herald
Synopsis
Felix Batterinski grew up tough in Northern Ontario. After enjoying brief fame as an "enforcer" for the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers, he finds himself eking out a living as a player-coach in Finland. But a controversial play spells the end of his comeback bid, and Felix begins a tragic descent into disillusion and despair.
About the Author
Roy MacGregor is the bestselling author of Home Team: Fathers, Sons, and Hockey (shortlisted for the Governor General's Award), Northern Light, and Canadians. Currently, he is a regular columnist for the Globe and Mail. His journalism has earned him four National Magazine Awards and two National Newspaper Awards. In 2012 he became a Media Honouree Hockey Hall of Fame. He lives in Ottawa.