# Albatross

By Terry Fallis

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/albatross-4ff53c55/

Adam Coryell has his sights on a writing career when his Toronto gym teacher discovers he has the ideal body for golf. The theory sounds improbable, but tournaments and sponsors soon reward a talent he barely has to work at. He would rather be getting somewhere with his stories.

## What makes it funny?

Adam is rich from a sport he doesn’t much like, yet still imagines the fortune awaiting him as a published Canadian writer. Fallis makes a joke of that unlikely financial ambition. Even the discovery of Adam’s gift begins awkwardly, with a teacher asking to measure her students’ extremities.

### The comedy at work

Golf gives Adam results without the effort that writing demands of him. His wry first-person narration follows that mismatch through success and dissatisfaction, while jokes about the literary profession keep his preferred career from looking too grand.

### Try this if…

A career that looks ideal to everyone else can feel like an obligation from the inside. That predicament gives readers interested in vocation and growing up a reason to follow Adam, even if they have little interest in his golf scores.

### Good to know

The story includes loss and heartbreak alongside its comic treatment of success. Adam’s relationship with his coach, Bobbie Davenport, matters as much as his sporting ability.

## What to expect

- Genre: Contemporary & literary
- On the shelf: Coming of age
- Kind of humor: Dry wit · Satire
- The atmosphere: Warmhearted
- Format: Novel
- Published: 2019

## Sources & further reading

- Author commentary: [Author and opening sample](https://terryfallis.com/books/albatross)
- Review: [Literary Review of Canada review](https://reviewcanada.ca/magazine/2019/11/golf-clap)