The Navigator of New York

Wayne Johnston's breakthrough epic novel The Colony of Unrequited Dreams was published in several countries and given high praise from the critics. It earned him nominations for the highest fiction prizes in Canada and was a national bestseller. His American editor said he hadn't found such an exciting author since he discovered Don DeLillo. Johnston, who has been writing fiction for two decades, launched his next and sixth novel across the English-speaking world to great anticipation.

The Navigator of New York is set against the background of the tumultuous rivalry between Lieutenant Peary and Dr. Cook to get to the North Pole at the beginning of the 20th century. It is also the story of a young man's quest for his origins, from St. John's, Newfoundland, to the bustling streets of New York, and the remotest regions of the Arctic.

Wayne Johnston has harnessed the scope, energy and inventiveness of the nineteenth century novel and encapsulated it in the haunting and eloquent voice of his hero. His descriptions of place, whether of the frozen Arctic wastes or the superabundant and teeming New York, have extraordinary physicality and conviction, recreating a time when the wide world seemed to be there for the taking. An extraordinary achievement that seamlessly weaves fact and fabrication, it continues the masterful reinvention of the historical novel Wayne Johnston began with The Colony of Unrequited Dreams.

From the Hardcover edition.

 Also available in the Netherlands as De zeevaarder uit New York (de Geus 2003)
Available in China as The Navigator of New York (Chongqing Publishing House 2005)

"Intricate and touching...As ambitious as it is intelligent...Reinforce Johnston's right to be considered one of the major figures in Canadian fiction." -- Iain Pears, Independent

"Johnston is one of the finest writers on the scene." -- Time Out

"Johnston finds breathtaking poetry in the ice of the Arctic and rich drama in the politics of polar exploration." -- The New York Daily News

"A masterpiece...Johnston is a master plotter whose wise words sting and stab." -- Entertainment Weekly

"Beautiful and evocative...Johnston is an accomplished story-teller, with a gift for both description and character...Arctic exploration, first love, and family secrets blend perfectly." -- Booklist

"Polar exploration - with its incredible hardships, its months of freezing isolation, darkness and despair - makes an irresistible metaphor for a lonely and uncertain childhood...It is in 'the North' where Johnston shines...'There was no time in this place where all meridians met', as Devlin rhapsodizes - a young man finally embarking on his terrifying, heady journey into life." -- The New York Times Book Review

"Read this book simply for the force, beauty and accuracy of its images...The Navigator of New York is...the culmination (so far) of Johnston's experiences as a writer and as a human being." -- The Globe and Mail

"The Navigator of New York dwarfs the average contemporary novel in scope and sheer storytelling." -- Winnipeg Free Press