SOURCE: “Clarke vs. Clarke: Tory Elitism in Austin Clarke's Short Fiction,” in West Coast Lines, Vol. 22, Spring/Summer, 1997, pp. 110–28.

In the essay below, Clarke analyzes the representation of class in Austin C. Clarke's short stories and argues that Clarke ironically upholds bourgeois Canadian nationalism despite his critical stance towards it in his non-fiction writing.

Perusing Austin Chesterfield Clarke's short stories, one catches, at times, the distinctive odour of the late British writer Ian Fleming's sorry James Bond spy adventures. Certainly, both authors stud their pages with references to pricey autos and shapely women. (Or should that be shapely automobiles and pricey women?) Then there is their mutual attentiveness to high-stakes card games and horse races. (Clarke works both species of gambling into his short story, “Give It a Shot.”) Conceivably, if Fleming were still alive, he would make an apt partner for Clarke in one of those racially...