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Down to the Dirt

Joel Thomas Hynes, "the grunge rock of CanLit"

About Me


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Down to the Dirt
Down to the Dirt is the first novel pubished by Joel Thomas Hynes (aka Joel Hynes). Down to the Dirt was originally published by Killick Press in 2004 and later reprinted by HarperCollins. It continues to be published in Canada by HarperCollins and in the US by Carroll & Graf.
This page is dedicated to the unabridged audio edition of Down to the Dirt published by Rattling Books in 2006. It is narrated by the author, Sherry White and Jonny Harris.
Down to the Dirt won the Percy Janes First Novel Award, was shortlisted for the Winterset Award and nominated for the Dublin IMPAC Award.
TO BUY
the unabridged audio edition of
DOWN TO THE DIRT
by Joel Thomas Hynes
either as a single MP3 CD or as a Digital Download
visit RATTLING BOOKS
Trade Distribution
The unabridged audio edition of Down to the Dirt is published by Rattling Books. Rattling Books are distributed in Canada by House of Anansi Press. In the USA Rattling Books are available from Ingram Books. In Australia and New Zealand Rattling Books are available from INT Books and in Iceland from 12 Tónar.
CanLit Grunge Rock
Douglas Glover, winner of the Governor General’s Award in Canada for Fiction reviewing Hynes' new novel Right Away Monday for Elle described the writing of Joel Thomas Hynes as "the grunge rock of Can Lit.”
MORE REVIEWS (see left side bar for others)
"Well written, fervently paced...capturing vivid moments and the strong-willed voice of rabble-rouser Keith Kavanagh."
Library Journal
"Violent rock music rendered in prose."
Kirkus Reviews
"Riveting debut novel...unconscionably funny....Its capturing of life's unaccountable cruelty is breathtaking....Hynes makes us feel until it hurts."
Globe and Mail
"Beautiful, artful...It reads like a 21st Century Huckleberry Finn...capturing how we discover the world and lose it simultaneously."
Jonathan Ames, author of Wake Up, Sir!
"A new and distinctive voice...There are images here that are truly burned into the reader's consciousness. Raw and intense."
Alistair MacLeod, author of No Great Mischief

Attention Libraries and Librarians:
Digital Downloads of Rattling Books for Libraries are now available through overdrive.com .

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 5/7/2007
Band Website: rattlingbooks.com
Band Members: Down to the Dirt is an unabridged audio edition of the book of the same title by Joel Thomas Hynes (aka Joel Hynes).

The audio edition of Down to the Dirt is narrated by

Joel Thomas Hynes, Author and Principal Narrator (Keith Kavanagh)

Joel Thomas Hynes (aka Joel Hynes) is the author of two novels (Down to the Dirt and Right Away Monday). He co-wrote the acclaimed stageplay The Devil You Don’t Know and his recent play Say Nothing Saw Wood, won the Best Dramatic Script Award at the 2005 NL Arts and Letters. Also an actor, Hynes has performed leading roles in numerous stageplays, films and television productions, receiving the prestigious Golden Sheaf Award for Best Actor at the Yorkton Film Festival.

Joel's latest novel is Right Away Monday (HarperCollins, May 2007).

Sherry White (Natasha)

Sherry White is an actor, writer, producer and director. A graduate of the Fine Arts program at the Sir Wilfred Grenfell College in Corner Brook, Newfoundland, she has performed in a number of theatre companies including the White Rooster Theatre and Rising Tide. Her film, The Bread Maker, which she also wrote, premiered at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. Her screenplay for the as yet unproduced Crackie was given the 2004 Jim Burt Screenwriting Award from the Writer's Guild of Canada.

Most recently Sherry was a regular (along with Joel Thomas Hynes and Jonny Harris) on the CBC TV series Hatching, Matching and Dispatching.

Sherry played the role of Matron Sankey in Mary Walsh's 2006 film Young Triffie's Been Made Away.

Jonny Harris (Andy)

Jonny Harris is a graduate of Sir Wilfred Grenfell College’s School of Fine Arts. He has extensive stage experience in both classical and contemporary theatre, credits including Edmund in King Lear and Hal in Proof. His first one-man-show, Out of the Bog, directed by Andy Jones has led to several solo comedic performances such as CBC Radio’s Madly off in All Directions and The Halifax Comedy Festival. He starred in and was a contributing writer for Mary Walsh’s Hatching Matching and Dispatching, a comedy series for CBC television.

Jonny Harris is a founding member of the St. John’s sketch comedy troupe, ‘The Dance Party of Newfoundland’. Jonny played the role of Billy Head, Young Triffie’s Been Made Away With. He has been a guest writer for This Hour Has 22 Minutes and played the role of Roly Costello in RCA-Theatre’s remount of High Steel.

Influences: Russell Banks, David Adams Richards, Michael Crummey, Irvine Welsh, Augusten Burroughs, Calvert, the Southern Shore of Newfoundland's Avalon Peninsula - the Irish fucking Loop, books, authors, writers
Sounds Like: Reviews

"Picture a teenaged outcast in Newfoundland and his two closest friends—they all love to talk dirty, each with a somewhat skewed Irish accent. This is why the audio version of Hynes’s first novel (really linked stories) is more than welcome. Hynes, also an actor, narrates in protagonist Keith Kavanagh’s voice, joined by Sherry White and Johnny Harris. If anyone has ever wondered what’s going through the minds of those eternal bad boys and the girls they hook up with, this sensitive portrait is a good place to begin. Hynes’s clipped style, taking stories to a breaking point, then dropping them cold, before too much emotion sets in, works very well."

AudioFile Magazine

"Hynes captures [dialogue] masterfully...Raunchy, humorous and energetic...A gritty, moving portrait of growing up - or trying to, anyway."

Publisher's Weekly

"Joel Hynes is the best young voice in years"

David Adams Richards

"...scary, sexy, and funny, sometimes all three at once. It's a hell of a ride."

Michael Crummey, author of River Thieves

Record Label: Rattling Books
Type of Label: Major

My Blog

Joel Thomas Hynes Tar Paper Shack Blog

Byron dreams of his father since hes passed. I never dream of mine, never have. Perhaps it would be too intimate. Byron says: -- Just wait till he dies, then hell visit. In Byrons dream his fat...
Posted by Down to the Dirt on Sat, 23 Aug 2008 05:45:00 PST

Down to the Dirt at Cannes

The film version of Down to the Dirt, directed, co-written and produced by filmmaker Justin Simms, will be the first film from Newfoundland to be screened at Cannes; it will be appear twice during the...
Posted by Down to the Dirt on Fri, 02 May 2008 06:18:00 PST

New Short Fiction Single Digital Download available from rattlingbooks.com

New Short Fiction Single available from rattlingbooks.com - Halfway to the Devil's Kitchen by Joel Thomas Hynes, narrated by Sherry White Halfway to the Devil's Kitchen by Joel Thomas Hynes narr...
Posted by Down to the Dirt on Tue, 22 Jan 2008 12:10:00 PST

Excerpt from Say Nothing Saw Wood

The following is an excerpt from Say Nothing Saw Wood, the upcoming play by Joel Thomas Hynes set to premiere at the LSPU Hall in St. John's, Newfoundland, May 2007. Lost Cause  (excerpt)Fourteen yea...
Posted by Down to the Dirt on Mon, 07 May 2007 01:07:00 PST