Whale Music

Des Howell is a former rock 'n' roll star who never leaves his secluded oceanfront mansion. Naked, rich and fabulously deranged, he subsists on a steady diet of whiskey, pharmaceuticals and jelly doughnuts and occasionally works on his masterpiece, "Whale Music." One day, upon awakening from his usual drunken stupor, Des discovers on his sofa a young alien from the faraway universe of Toronto. This girl has made the trek to Des' hideaway because she believes in the "Whale Music" and she's crazy enough to think that Des can make a comeback hit with his mad magnum opus. (From Vintage Canada)

Whale Music won the 1989 Governor General's Literary Award for fiction.

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From the book

Author interviews

Paul Quarrington discusses reclusion in 1990 and writing Whale Music

34 years ago

Duration 6:11

Novelist Paul Quarrington explains how reclusion became the driving force for his award-winning novel 'Whale Music'. Aired on CBC's Midday on April 19, 1990.