<p><b>One of the CBC’s Best Books of the Year.</b></p><p>A pregnancy test is taken at a wedding, a bad diagnosis leads a patient to a surprising outlook, and a civic holiday becomes a dystopian nightmare. By turns caustic, tender, and creepily hilarious, Sweet Affliction reveals the frailties, perversions, and resilience of Anna Leventhal’s cast of city-dwellers. Shiftless youths, a compulsive collector of cigarette butts, and a dying pet rat populate fifteen sharply-observed and darkly funny stories that suck at the marrow of modern life.</p><p>“It’s a joy to read.”<b>—<i>The Globe &amp; Mail</i></b></p><p>'Anna Leventhal [is] one of Montreal’s quietly beloved literary personalities.'<b>—<i>Cult MTL</i></b></p><p>“A subtle yet powerful debut.”<b>—Inaudible</b></p><p>'Sweet Affliction’s reviews have been positive across the board, and rightly so. It’s a collection that reads more like a mid-career statement than a tentative debut.'<b>—<i>Montreal Gazette</i></b></p>