Dirty Birds

In late 2008, as the world's economy crumbles and Barack Obama ascends to the White House, the remarkably unremarkable Milton Ontario – not to be confused with Milton, Ontario – leaves his parents' basement in middle-of-nowhere, Saskatchewan, and sets forth to find fame, fortune and love in the Euro-lite electric sexuality of Montreal; to bask in the endless 20-something millennial adolescence of the Plateau; to escape the infinite flatness of Saskatchewan and find his messiah – Leonard Cohen.

Hilariously ironic and irreverent, in Dirty Birds, Morgan Murray generates a quest novel for the 21st century — a coming-of-age, rom-com, crime-farce thriller — where a hero's greatest foe is his own crippling mediocrity as he seeks purpose in art, money, power, crime and sleeping in all day. (From Breakwater Books)

Morgan Murray is a writer from Alberta who now lives in Nova Scotia. Dirty Birds is his first novel.

Dirty Birds is on the Canada Reads 2021 longlist.

• 60 works of Canadian fiction to watch for in fall 2020
• The CBC Books fall 2020 reading list

Interviews with Morgan Murray

All in a Weekend12:51‘Dirty Birds’ a pitch perfect send up of hip, artistic, romantic Montreal

Morgan Murray tells the story of Milton Ontario (not Milton, Ontario) who moves from small town Saskatchewan to Montreal, with dreams of becoming a famous poet like his idol, Leonard Cohen. 12:51

Mainstreet Cape Breton16:56Cabot Trail Writers Festival: Morgan Murray

We are part of the Cabot Trail Writers Festival this year. The theme is resilience and community. We spoke with author Morgan Murray, author of Dirty Birds. 16:56

The Afternoon Edition - Sask10:00Dirty Birds: New book tells fictional life and adventures of Sask-born man

Author Morgan Murray joined Garth Materie to talk about his new book called Dirty Birds, which follows the fictional life of Milton Ontario (not to be confused with the city in Ontario) and his adventures after leaving rural Saskatchewan. 10:00