[In The Invention of the World] Hodgins has produced a work of ambitious scope that should entertain, if not fully satisfy, both readers and critics. (p. 76)

Hodgins' book makes liberal use of symbolism, elements of the grotesque, and most especially the folk myth that infuses the work of certain writers ranging from Italy's D'Annunzio to Ireland's Yeats. (Unlike either, however, Hodgins doesn't flirt with the fascist impulse.) His narrative has a built-in richness: when a writer adopts the regional cadences of Irish prose, as Hodgins does in much of this book, his story benefits from the boisterous lush rhythms that go hand in hand with the Irish bent for rambling tales inspired by mist, marshes and, less happily, alcohol. At the same time Hodgins' account of contemporary life in a small BC logging and fishing community glows with authenticity…. Like it or not, this is … marvelously captured—a...