Randolph Ave
About the Book
John Murphy is nearing the end of his university career, and he has never been less certain about his future.
Labouring under the presumption that his girlfriend of five years has expectations that he cannot fulfill, John subconsciously spends the summer doing everything in his power to untangle himself from that relationship. That includes legally dubious employment, taking unnecessary risks, and befriending a number of unsavoury characters, one of whom commits an act of violence on John's behalf, or so John is led to believe.
At its heart, Randolph Ave is about the tensions that accompany rising expectations — real or imagined — of a young man's transition from adolescence to adulthood, and how some like John, find the pressure simply too much to bear. In the end, while fraught with misadventure and untold social embarrassment, John comes to discover a hidden talent and subsequently pulls himself free from his malignant malaise.
Set in Windsor, Ontario, in the mid 1990s, Randolph Ave is a coming-of-age story that many will relate to and enjoy.
Buy the book in-store (Windsor)
About Jamie Muir
Jamie Muir is the author of Randolph Ave, his debut self-published novel set in Windsor, Ontario, in the 1990s.
Jamie spent his formative years in Windsor, first as a student at the university, as well as a handful of years working a variety of jobs, while living in various parts of the city. His addresses included the Laurier Hall on-campus residence, California Avenue, Martindale, Peter Street, Niagara, Windsor Avenue, as well as Hillcrest Boulevard.
From the mid-to-late 90s, Jamie lived in cities across Canada, before settling in Waterloo, Ontario, for 20 years. In the fall of 2024, he returned to the area. He and his wife now reside in Harrow. Evidently, Windsor-Essex has a pull that he was no longer able to resist, and he is proud to call it home.
Randolph Ave is a work of literary fiction. While Jamie repurposed events from his own life, he happily permitted wild embellishments to enhance the story. All events should be seen as a creation of Jamie's own imagination, and nothing more.
Randolph Ave is his second attempt at writing a novel. The first — started 15 years ago or so — ballooned to an overwhelming size and was ultimately abandoned. This second attempt proved fruitful, and Jamie is certain that using Windsor as the backdrop was not immaterial to the task at hand. Alas, Windsor has provided lots of grist for his mill, so to speak.