Howard Akler

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2016 TORONTO BOOK AWARDS The problem of consciousness may just be a semantic one. The brain absorbs a sea of sensory input, the tiniest fraction of which reaches the shore of our awareness. We pay attention to what is most novel, most necessary at the time. At its most reductive, the word 'consciousness' refers to the synchronized firing of neurons across multiple areas of the brain, the mental experience of attending.But should consciousness be summed up simply by...

Nominated for a Commonwealth Writers Prize, a Toronto Book Award and an Amazon.ca First Novel Award. March 6, 1934. Hundreds gather outside City Hall to celebrate the Toronto Centenary. In the crowd, pickpocket Mona Kantor and her partner, Chesler, are «in the tip,» finding easy pickings among the jostling masses. Eli Morenz, city man for the Daily Star, is covering the festivities and uncovering the pickpocket racket working the scene. A surreptitious photo and some keen research lead him to...

It&apos;s 1971. Hal Sachs runs a used bookstore. Business isn&apos;t so great, and the store is in a part of Toronto that&apos;s about to be paved over with a behemoth expressway. And then Hal meets Lily Klein, an activist schoolteacher who&apos;ll do just about anything to stop the highway. It&apos;s love at first sight. Until it isn&apos;t. And then Hal vanishes.<br> <br> A half-century later, Hal&apos;s nephew, Aitch, waits for his baby to be born as he tries to piece together...

March 6, 1934. Hundreds gather outside City Hall to celebrate the Toronto Centenary. In the crowd, pickpocket Mona Kantor and her partner, Chesler, are &#145;in the tip,&#8217; finding easy pickings among the jostling masses. Eli Morenz, city man for the Daily Star, is covering the festivities and uncovering the pickpocket racket working the scene. A surreptitious photo and some keen research lead him to an underworld dive in Kensington Market where Toronto&#8217;s pickpockets...