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337:, about the joke perpetrated by an English teacher after the death of one of the students he loved, is an absolute treat. It is infused with bright language and a side-splitting hilarity, as well as an underlying quiet bitterness and tragedy ... When Kilodney allows himself, he has sympathy and understanding for people and what makes them work, or not work. In much the same way,
261:, and of course the vanity press. He was, however, not interested in being seen as a crank or an eccentric, but simply wanted to find respectable, legitimate work as a writer and be taken seriously for doing so. Nevertheless, he also enjoyed pranks, and in 1988, Kilodney submitted a number of stories by famous writers to the
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Vol. 3 (a 90-minute cassette) is from 1991. "Dub 154" of this tape, a representative example, includes photocopied typewritten notes detailing the recording process, transfer technique and equipment used. Kilodney handwrote with ballpoint pen on the cassette jacket as well. Side A has 11 recordings,
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material was written by him ("and a group of selected colleagues") in a range of deliberately awful styles, under a variety of pseudonyms. He insisted, however, that the bad poetry he anthologized had been collected from a number of sources, and it was all correctly attributed (including works by
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and U.S. culture generally, Trifon moved to
Toronto in 1973 where he worked at a number of other book publishers, mostly in their stockrooms. While doing so, he continued to make very occasional sales of short stories and humor pieces to small magazines, but decided that it might be best to reach
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After receiving an inheritance, Kilodney retired from selling his self-published books in 1995. To continue making income, he took up trading mining stocks, which allowed him to live modestly for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, he continued writing, and looked for new ways to distribute his
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At various times
Kilodney kept a tape recorder with him and recorded quite a bit of bizarre byplay between himself and prospective customers. He then compiled the oddest or most entertaining exchanges into hand-made cassette tapes ("On The Street With Crad Kilodney" Vols 1, 2, 3, and 4) which he
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all about? Well, it's hard to say ... There's no high point to it, except perhaps in great one-liners ... but then again, it's not meant to develop into anything more than what it Is. And what is that? Just stories of funny bits taking shots at the institutional world. And these are worth reading
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In 1991, Kilodney was charged with selling commercial goods without a licence, making him the only
Canadian writer ever charged for selling his own writing. In response, Toronto hardcore band (and long time supporters of the Independent DIY ethos) Armed & Hammered released the song "Crad
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Kilodney died of cancer on April 14, 2014, at the age of 66. He never married, and left no heirs. The day after his death and at his request, his friend, artist
Lorette C. Luzajic, launched the Crad Kilodney Literary Foundation, a website dedicated to preserving and promoting his works. A
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Side B 16 recordings; four of the recordings are answering machine messages, and the rest are the famous surreptitious encounters with people wondering why this man has a sign around his neck. "Excrement" and "Putrid Scum", as well as several of his stories (such as "Henry", featured in
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people by self-publishing his stories (under his own
Charnel House imprint) and selling them face-to-face on the street. This he did from 1978 through 1995, publishing 32 books in this manner, using the name Crad Kilodney. Kilodney could generally be found, and indeed was a fixture, on
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From April 2008 until a few months before his death, new satirical articles (and the occasional short story) were posted on
Kilodney's blog. A series of 20 articles on "Exotic Cities" that had been published in 2009 were translated into French and collected in the volume
290:"offbeat, puzzling and, quite frankly, outrageous ... Kilodney's absurdist style and quirky humor will limit his appeal largely to adventurous readers. But those readers will find some entertaining stories in the new collection."
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Most of these collections contain 3 to 8 stories, and are between 34 and 80 pages in length. Most were self published, and appeared as stapled, photocopied pamphlets, in print runs of 800–1,200 copies. There are exceptions:
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Kilodney posted his final blog entry, a short story called "Dreaming With Jay", in
December 2013. He thanked his readers for their support, and noted that "This is the last piece I will publish in my lifetime."
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120:, in 1948 to a Greek family. In the autobiographical book "Excrement", he says that February 13 is his birthday. He graduated from Syosset High School in 1965, then obtained a degree in
210:(1991) was Kilodney's only full novel. Though the vast majority of the work offered for sale was Kilodney's own, he also edited and sold several anthologies under the banner of
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in general, shaped his outlook on fiction and provided him with material for many stories. The stories "Three Dead Men" and "A Moment of
Silence for Man Ray" (both in
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building with a cardboard sign hanging from his neck, holding a book he was selling. His attention-getting signage, always handwritten, might give a book title (e.g.,
360:"a collection of short stories by Canada's funniest fiction writer. The title story is the funniest story I've read in years. Kilodney is an undiscovered genius..."
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between 1970 and 1972. According to information on his unofficial website, Kilodney wrote the first unsolicited short story ever accepted by
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Kilodney commented that while most writers are inspired by conventionally great literature, he drew inspiration from the exact opposite: the
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The books themselves were usually pamphlet-sized collections of short stories, ranging from 32 to 80 pages in length. More rarely, as with
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succeeds because the author forgets himself and enters the spirit of another person trapped in a different kind of world. On the whole,
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offered for sale alongside his books. They are extremely rare and are collector's items (much as original printings of his books are).
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anthology, and in 1998 his previously published story "Girl On The Subway" was included in the mainstream literary anthology
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material. In 1996, Kilodney's satirical piece "Circumcision Rites of the
Toronto Stock Exchange" appeared in the 1996
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More in line with
Kilodney's literary ambitions, also in 1988 Black Moss Press issued a 'best-of' collection called
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Black Moss Press issued two anthologies, each around 100 pages, of Kilodney's 'selected stories'. Aside from
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Kilodney is at his best when his sense of humor steps in, ironic, mocking and laced with sadness ...
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literary competition, many under absurd names. All of the stories were screened out by the jury.
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766:"Obituary: A connoisseur of the bizarre, Crad Kilodney railed against hypocrisy of the world"
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Kilodney thanks his sister Carol, noting that "she sells many of my books in her pizzeria in
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873:"Late street poet and publishing scourge Crad Kilodney left behind a surprising legacy"
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one of the funniest books of the year, and it ought to be a bestseller ... But what is
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in 1969, and taking on the name "Crad Kilodney", published very occasional pieces in
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670:, these were the only Kilodney volumes generally available for sale in bookstores.
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Kilodney also wrote for a variety of publications, Canadian and otherwise, such as
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1160:- Dedicated to the preservation and promotion of the literature of Crad Kilodney.
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Bloodsucking Monkeys from North Tonawanda, Suburban Chicken-strangling Stories
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848:"Author Crad Kilodney was a cranky and courageous fixture on Toronto streets"
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796:. Fisher - University of Toronto. Toronto : Charnel House. p. 80.
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128:. Instead of continuing in that field, he took a job at Exposition Press, a
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421:(2012). This was the last of Kilodney's books published in his lifetime.
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is over 100 pages, contains 18 stories, and was published by
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called the book's stories "sadly uneven," she went on to say
218:. Kilodney later admitted that most—although not all—of the
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The Scarlet Book: The Flame-Broiled Humour of Crad Kilodney
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Other mainstream critics also praised Kilodney's fiction.
103:) on the streets of the city between about 1978 and 1995.
914:"CBC Radio hoping its short-story contest still credible"
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The Yellow Book: The Outlandish Humour of Crad Kilodney
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The Green Book: The Polymorphus Humour of Crad Kilodney
206:(1985) the works were single novelette-length stories;
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Kilodney was in a relationship with poet and novelist
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The Blue Book: The Eccentric Humour of Crad Kilodney
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Kilodney Was Innocent" on a 7" single vinyl record.
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888:"Faulkner, Kafka stories rejected in CBC contest"
526:The Orange Book: The Bent Humour of Crad Kilodney
1022:"Anti-establishment scribe's prose sadly uneven"
718:The Second Charnel House Anthology of Bad Poetry
407:Concrete Forest: The New Fiction of Urban Canada
139:. Many of his experiences in that job, and with
116:Louis Trifon (as he was then known) was born in
712:The First Charnel House Anthology of Bad Poetry
429:posthumous collection of his online writings,
396:Retirement from self-publishing and later work
150:He sold a few humor-oriented articles to the
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1074:"Uncategorized – Crad Kilodney–New Writings"
600:(assorted on-line writing, 1988–2013) (2015)
467:, issued posthumously, is almost 400 pages.
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662:Anthologies of previously collected stories
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679:(13 stories, dating between 1978 and 1985)
580:Blood Sucking Monkeys from North Tonawanda
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1219:21st-century Canadian short story writers
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821:"Cult literary figure Crad Kilodney dies"
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358:Bloodsucking Monkeys From North Tonawanda
216:The Charnel House Anthology of Bad Poetry
556:Incurable Trucks & Speeding Diseases
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790:Kilodney, Crad; Kilodney, Crad (1988).
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339:The Simplified Existence of Mr. Duggins
286:, Glen Colbourn called the stories in
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684:Girl on the Subway and other stories
520:Bang Heads Here, Suffering Bastards!
367:, 'What' (a literary magazine), and
274:Girl On The Subway and other stories
187:downtown campus and in front of the
592:Suburban Chicken Strangling Stories
170:Move to Canada, and self-publishing
1229:21st-century Canadian male writers
1224:20th-century Canadian male writers
966:Colbourn, Glen (August 22, 1988).
315:just for the sheer joy of reading.
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1239:21st-century pseudonymous writers
1234:20th-century pseudonymous writers
1199:Canadian male short story writers
1158:Card Kilodney Literary Foundation
993:Gervais, Marty (March 31, 1984).
939:Kilodney, Crad (March 30, 1989).
886:Bastien, Mark (January 6, 1989).
345:contains a few remarkable gems...
968:"Author succeeds at being worst"
87:of Lou Trifon, an American-born
83:(1948 – April 14, 2014) was the
1105:Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library
1054:. October 15, 1989. p. 11F
920:. January 12, 1989. p. C10
846:Fiorito, Joe (April 30, 2014).
508:Sex Slaves Of The Astro-Mutants
995:"Mindless, yes, but hilarious"
764:Levin, Martin (May 10, 2014).
706:Worst Canadian Stories, Vol. 2
700:Worst Canadian Stories, Vol. 1
586:Junior Brain Tumours in Action
574:I Chewed Mrs. Ewing's Raw Guts
237:Worst Canadian Stories, Vol. 1
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1209:University of Michigan alumni
1204:Writers from Queens, New York
1020:Lau, Evelyn (July 21, 1990).
1149:How to use archival material
657:(2012, French language only)
1194:People from Jamaica, Queens
1062:– via Newspapers.com.
1036:– via Newspapers.com.
1009:– via Newspapers.com.
982:– via Newspapers.com.
955:– via Newspapers.com.
928:– via Newspapers.com.
902:– via Newspapers.com.
484:Gainfully Employed in Limbo
335:The Funeral of Lenny Zeller
319:Although Evelyn Lau, in an
272:. A follow-up collection (
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1164:Crad Kilodney–New Writings
1052:South Florida Sun-Sentinel
655:Villes Bigrement Exotiques
568:Nice Stories for Canadians
419:Villes Bigrement Exotiques
562:Simple Stories For Idiots
356:, Richard Grayson called
250:before she died in 1987.
193:Simple Stories For Idiots
502:Human Secrets - Book Two
496:Human Secrets - Book One
490:Lightning Struck My Dick
449:Lightning Struck My Dick
411:McClelland & Stewart
147:) are examples of this.
1169:Crad Kilodney -Archives
623:Foul Pus From Dead Dogs
478:World Under Anaesthesia
442:Short story collections
303:, Marty Gervais called
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137:Hicksville, New York
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115:
100:
96:
80:
79:
1189:2014 deaths
1184:1948 births
1119:Identifiers
1092:Archives at
642:Putrid Scum
598:Strong Meat
465:Strong Meat
431:Strong Meat
296:Writing in
279:Writing in
208:Putrid Scum
101:Putrid Scum
1178:Categories
1058:October 1,
1032:October 1,
1005:October 1,
978:October 1,
951:October 1,
924:October 1,
898:October 1,
738:References
649:Travelogue
605:Novelettes
325:review of
255:slush pile
202:(1983) or
112:Early life
71:Occupation
33:Lou Trifon
831:April 15,
793:Excrement
694:As editor
629:Excrement
263:CBC Radio
183:, at the
176:Watergate
135:based in
124:from the
122:astronomy
107:Biography
1101:Location
825:CBC News
89:Canadian
85:pen name
775:May 10,
686:(1990)
677:(1988)
369:Rustler
1132:Source
1107:
857:May 1,
800:
720:(1992)
714:(1989)
708:(1987)
702:(1987)
644:(1991)
631:(1988)
625:(1986)
619:(1985)
613:(1983)
594:(1992)
588:(1990)
582:(1989)
576:(1988)
570:(1988)
564:(1986)
558:(1986)
552:(1985)
546:(1985)
540:(1985)
534:(1985)
528:(1984)
522:(1984)
516:(1984)
510:(1982)
504:(1982)
498:(1981)
492:(1980)
486:(1980)
480:(1979)
474:(1978)
257:, the
74:Writer
636:Novel
617:Cathy
204:Cathy
1060:2021
1034:2021
1007:2021
980:2021
953:2021
926:2021
900:2021
859:2014
833:2014
798:ISBN
777:2014
298:The
281:The
214:and
99:and
47:Died
36:1948
29:Born
349:In
243:."
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