Moving Forward Sideways Like a Crab [Paperback]

Readers who enjoy rich details of place will find Mootoos writing about her settings to be luxuriant; we are especially treated to abundant descriptions of Trinidad...[A] thoughtful exploration of place and identity.
--Kirkus Reviews

Mootoos character-driven novel is rich in setting and slow in pace, inviting the reader to linger over its closely observed details.
--Booklist

Queer Canadian visual artist and writer Shani Mootoo's latest novelMoving Forward Sideways Like a Crabfollows the journey of writer Jonathan as he searches for the mother who left when his parents divorced.
--Baltimore Out Loud

Jonathan Lewis-Adey's mother left when he was nine, but when he finds his estranged parent again, he is surprised to find that the person he knew as his mother has become a man named Sydney. Set in the Trinidad of her upbringing, Shani Mootoo's vivid writing explores the pain and confusion Jonathan experiences as a result of Sydney's choices.
--World Literature Today,Nota Benesection

A powerfully moving tribute to the lasting power of storytelling and the surprising and unpredictable nature of human emotion. It's truly an excellent literary feat and a great story to get lost in!
--Bookworm Shawn(blog)

Long-listed for Canada's Scotiabank Giller Prize.

Short-listed for the Lambda Literary Award.

Mootoo has produced a stunning meditation on story...[This novel] portrays the beautiful (yet often tense) bond between a parent and child, the complexities of immigration, the fluidity of gender, and provides a juxtaposition between two extreme climates, Toronto and Trinidad. It is a gorgeously written novel.
--National Post

A fascinating premise that gives voice to the queer-identified...Mootoo's brilliant evocations of [Trinidad's] paradisiacal glow...are a real gift to the reader.
--Globe and Mail