A Boy of Good Breeding Author:Miriam Toews, Miriam Toews One thousand five hundred, that's the magic number. At least, it is for Mayor Hosea Funk when it comes to his town, Algren, Manitoba. Algren's claim to fame is its rank as Canada's smallest town, a title that incites both pride and constant angst for its eccentric mayor. Motivated by the Prime Minister's pledge to visit the smallest Canadian to... more »wn, Hosea Funk tallies births, deaths and all other arrivals and departures to make sure the population hovers at 1,500 -- less than that and the town becomes a village, more and the town might lose its title. Enter Knute Corea-McCloud. A single mom returning home to Algren from the big city, Knute takes a job in the mayor's office and soon finds herself entangled in his schemes. But keeping the population at an even 1,500 is easier said than done, especially when citizens threaten to leave, the father of Knute's daughter threatens to move back, and Hosea's lady friend pressures him to commit. Then there's the rumour that a local woman might give birth to triplets, and it looks like Mayor Hosea's plan is on the verge of turning into a shamble. A sweet, funny story about finding out where one belongs, A Boy of Good Breeding is Miriam Toews's second novel. First published by Stoddart in 1998, it was revised and released in paperback in Canada by Vintage in 2005. It was released first the first time in the United States by Counterpoint in the spring of 2006. The CBC recording, remastered here for an audiobook, originally aired in 1998 and was recently rebroadcast to enthusiastic listener response.« less