Bitterly torn between two places, two loves, and two views of love and work, and deeply in debt, facing both financial and emotional bankruptcy, Jack Cade, nicknamed Lover Boy, is on the road to total ruin. The Pandemic and Lockdown have made him feel dispossessed, empty and trapped. Out begging for money and mercy, Lover Boy takes on all comers viciously intent on cancelling him with the violent destruction of body, mind and spirit. When in a moment of distraction, he accidentally joins the Freedom Convoy, he battles against opposing forces for the kind of freedom that leads to a new vision of love and work, and a revolutionary and meaningful way of living. Anthony Labriola's work has appeared in The Canadian Forum, PRISM international, Vallum: Contemporary Poetry, Stone Voices, Still Point Arts Quarterly, Passion: Poetry, The Colours of Saying, Bells & Pomegranates, and Strange Fictions (Vagabondage Press). His poetry collections include the following: The Rigged Universe, Birds and Arrows, Sun Dogs (Shanti Arts Publishing), Invisible Mending, The Blessing of the Bikes & Other Life Cycles, Armour & Lace: From the Dragon Slayer's Notebook, The Sleep of Reason Produces Monsters, and All Things Counter, Original, Spare, Strange (Anaphora Literary Press). His published prose works include the following: Devouring the Artist, The Pros & Cons of Dragon-Slaying, Poor Love & Other Stories, The Lonely Barber, The Dandelion Clock, An Englishman in Italian, Dragonfly's Urban Crusade, Jealousy: Two Tales, The Lover and Interpreter of Human Oddities, Love's Cure, and Creek Songs (Anaphora Literary Press). The Japanese Waltzing Mouse & Other Tales (Cranberry Tree Press) appeared in August 2016. He lives with his family in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
