Michael Christie

From the short-story collection The Beggar's Garden, "Discard" tells the story of Earl, who, after the death of his beloved wife, Tuuli, retreats into his basement. He emerges to track down his estranged, homeless grandson, leaving food and other broken-down bits of things in dumpsters for him to find. The Beggar's Garden follows a diverse group of characters, from a bank manager to a drug addict to a retired Samaritan, a web designer, and a car thief,...

Bernice is a collector-of items rescued from her thrift shop and memories of a husband who abandoned her years ago-until one day she decides to take her sister's advice and downsize. "The Queen of Cans and Jars" is part of Michael Christie's critically acclaimed short-story collection, The Beggar's Garden. The Beggar's Garden follows a diverse group of characters, from a bank manager to a drug addict to a retired Samaritan, a web designer, and a car...

Finch stole his first car when he was a nimble twelve-year-old. Hundreds of cars later, he slips behind the wheel of an emerald-green Benz and takes his chances in the night, picking up a passenger along the way. "The Quiet" is part of Michael Christie's critically acclaimed short-story collection, The Beggar's Garden. The Beggar's Garden follows a diverse group of characters, from a bank manager to a drug addict to a retired Samaritan, a web designer,...

Michael Christie delicately and convincingly explores the fragile world of mental illness through Saul, a hospital patient who stops taking his medication, reordering his perspective on the world. "King Me" is part of Christie's critically acclaimed short-story collection, The Beggar's Garden. The Beggar's Garden follows a diverse group of characters, from a bank manager to a drug addict to a retired Samaritan, a web designer, and a car thief, as...

The reluctant owner of a wayward Andalucian wolfhound named Buddy, Dan discovers the immutable bond between man and his best friend. "An Ideal Companion" is part of Michael Christie's critically acclaimed short-story collection, The Beggar's Garden. The Beggar's Garden follows a diverse group of characters, from a bank manager to a drug addict to a retired Samaritan, a web designer, and a car thief, as they drift through each other's lives in Vancouver's...

The Beggar's Garden is a brilliantly surefooted, strikingly original collection of nine linked short stories that will delight as well as disturb. The stories follow a diverse group of curiously interrelated characters, from bank manager to crackhead to retired Samaritan to web designer to car thief, as they drift through each other's lives in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. These engrossing stories, free of moral judgment, are about people who are...