Doesn't That Hurt the Cow's Back? - Softcover

Steve Thompson

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1894263669 ISBN 13: 9781894263665

Publisher: General Store Publishing House, 2002

Synopsis

Childhood is a magical time, especially if it includes cows, and brothers, and tricycles, and fields, and a dog named Rex to share adventures with. And no one knows this better than Steve Thompson, who has captured the innocence of his post-war youth in this delightful collection of short stories.
Born the eldest of seven children to a farmer-cum-electrician and his school-teacher wife, Steve Thompson has artfully recreated the people and events that shaped his early years growing up on a Dundas County farm in Eastern Ontario during the 1940s and '50s. As well-known Ottawa Valley writer and personality, Mary Cook, puts it, "The title of this book was enough to have me searching through the headings to find the related story to put my curiosity at rest. On the way to the end, I was intrigued with such titles as Look What the Cat Dragged In and The Day I Lost My Grandmother. . . . His images are so real, his people so human, that you know he has lived this book."
A former teacher, Steve Thompson has a keen eye for detail and the ability to see both the bitter and the sweet in a situation. He is the author of numerous short stories, poems, and two novels. Here is a chance to relive-if just for a while-the wonder of childhood.

About this title

About the Author

Steve Thompson is a retired teacher with numerous short stories, poems and two novels published. Doesn't That Hurt the Cow's Back? relates to his formative years as part of a large, active family in Eastern Ontario.
In his free time, he is active in the community, curls and plays golf with his wife, visits with his married children, and enjoys his grandchildren: Heather, Jonathan, and Emma.
WHAT OTHERS SAY ABOUT DOESN'T THAT HURT THE COW'S BACK?
"The title of this book was enough to have me searching through the headings to find the related story to put my curiosity at rest. On the way to the end, I was intrigued with such titles as Look What the Cat Dragged In and The Day I Lost My Grandmother. I hadn't intended to read the book in one sitting. But as often happens with a good book of short stories, this one was hard to put down. Steve Thompson, above all, is a wonderful storyteller, one of a dying breed, and he brings to life with humour and more than a little pathos, a picture of a little boy who is searching for answers to life's most compelling questions. His images are so real, his people so human, that you know he has lived this book. This is a delightful book. If you want to chuckle, and if you like a healthy dose of realism and a peek into a not too distant past, you will want this book in your library."
-Mary Cook, CBC broadcaster, seven-time ACTRA Award winner, storyteller, and author.
"Steve Thompson combines nostalgia with innocence in this collection of delightful stories of growing up in rural Ontario during the forties and fifties. His skill as a storyteller is evident in these sometimes profound and always amusing tales. A pleasure to read."
-Rosemary Rutley, co-author of Bowring's Guide to Eastern Ontario and author of Voices from the Lost Villages.
"These thirty-two delightful stories by author Steve Thompson evoke a time when it was much easier for parents to let their kids run free and thereby get into all kinds of mischief. From a young boy's first solo trip to the barber's to the discovery of the mysteries of sex, you will find yourself immersed in-and laughing at-the adventures of the Thompson clan."
-Joy Hewitt Mann, winner of both the Stephen Leacock and Lapointe prizes for poetry.

Edition details

• Publisher: General Store Publishing House
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1894263669
• ISBN 13: 9781894263665
• Binding: Perfect Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 112