When we are young…
With little or nothing to compare with:
Our experience was to each of us; normal.
Only later, when we are informed by the others, do we discover how abnormal this experience really was…
Here lies the opportunity
Embrace this and accept that view!
To quote Ian Anderson of Jethro Tull.
“All the wise men don’t know what it’s like to be thick as a brick.”
I do.
NEW BOOK RELEASE!
Look Them in the Eyes
Dennis Mantin. Friesen Press, 2023
There are thirty-two ways to write a story, and I’ve used every one, but there is only one plot—things are not as they seem.
Jim Thompson
Following the birth of his daughter, Jackie, middle-aged Zach MacIver is determined to stop what he terms “intergenerational transmission of family dysfunction” from plaguing his family. Over the course of two years, from the time Jackie is eight until she turns ten, Zach recounts his life experiences to her while attempting to navigate the obstacles created by her mother, Tina, who is experiencing her own version of intergenerational transmission of family dysfunction. The story begins during the COVID-19 pandemic when the world and its inhabitants face mounting daily trials and life-altering decisions. From there the narrative proceeds in a non-linear fashion as Zach recounts the roots of his own dysfunction and how his love for his daughter and his desire to be a good father forced him to face his difficulties head on. American author Jim Thompson once wrote, “There are thirty-two ways to write a story, and I’ve used every one, but there is only one plot—things are not as they seem.” This story is a great reminder of that.
Available now to purchase in eBook, paper, and hardcover from Amazon, Friesen Press, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books, Google Play, and Kobo.
ACCOLADES
Book I wish I could read again for the first time!
Dennis Mantin’s clean characterisation breathes life into the narrative, the realistic portrayal adds to the reader’s understanding of the book’s profound messages on life and people. What’s compelling about the novel is the the Protagonist’s journey, his perspective on “intergenerational transmission of family dysfunction” and how he’s determined to stop that from plaguing his family. The story is neatly told from Zach’s( the protagonist) perspective. It’s a non linear narrative with characters virtually jumping off the page. The characters, their presentation and Mantin’s unique writing style offer readers a fresh and deep perspective.
—Anuradha Basu, Amazon, November 21, 2023
I remembered everything dramatic until I didn’t. I let that shit go, which is a monumental gift.
However, I remember certain individuals from my childhood who, at the time, I thought were unreasonably cruel. Now I realize they were just human. Nothing more or less. So, to those people that I criticized on the eastcoast!,
“All Apologies!”
I’ve been listening to the masses.
They be trying to bring me down.
I’ve been taking master classes.
Ever since the blues dropped into town.
They are talking about oppression.
Like, it’s shiny and brand new.
So much horror in that lesson.
That ironic cake to chew.
They are raging, eyes are blurry.
Tears they fall like April rain.
Going nowhere in such a hurry.
Like they just discovered pain.
I’ve been looking for a chorus. That won’t break us into songs. Maybe something just to bore us. Take our rights back from the wrongs…
While I was making peace with the Cockroaches in my Hotel Room, I was making love with another tenant, who was a lovely native Indian woman from Vancouver Island.
I found a job working at a car wash and marveled at how much smoother the paint was on higher end cars like Rolls Royces or Jaquaurs.
Then I got an evening job in the kitchen at the ‘Town Pump’, a venue for great live music and average food.
Then I got a midnight to 8a.m. job at Hambrger Mary’s, a 24 hour fast food joint that catered Hookers, Transvestites and a very colorful yet dangerous brand of streetlife.
I was working my way out Vancouver. I gave up the Welfare cheques. I gave up the car wash in the cold and wet, slept during the day and worked from 4p.m. until 8a.m.
Bill Kennedy the Hustler could not grasp why I worked so much. In this world of Skid Row; an honest God Fearing, hard working individual like myself was seen as peculiar, I think.
Bill suggested I take a look in the welfare office… He thought there would be cheques there with my name on them.
He was right.
I wasn’t so honest after all.
I traveled east by train.
Dennis Mantin
I arrived in Vancouver by train in the morning as the sun came up, and found a crumpled 5 dollar bill in my back pocket. I was 28, hung over and in a new city, but I wasn’t broke.
You could go to the welfare office, get a check and pay for a hotel room all in Vancouver’s east end, all in the same day.
I did that.
The Hotel Manager was a German named Frank with a severe limp and major anger issues on East Hastings Street.
My room was in the 3rd floor and there were about 200 rooms on 4 floors. There was a sink and mirror as soon as I opened the door and the light forced the cockroaches to scatter.
I had never seen a cockroach before. Things were looking up. A double bed sat just beyond the sink and a window to a back alley world beyond that… I had arrived on skid row!
The first night I got quite drunk on the few dollars I had left over from what Frank the angry German didn’t take for rent; and made a speech to the ‘COCKROACHES’
“I will be on the side of the room with the bed… You guys can have the sink and I will leave some food for you on the floor under the sink. Cross this fucking line!”
I made several lines with my hands and gestures. (drunk)
“And it will be war. Don’t cross the line and we will be OK. “
That was in October 1985. I left skid row in March 1896 just before Expo 86 began.
No cockroaches were harmed during my stay.
I met someone who’s all of these and the truth is, she’s married and not to me.
I am smitten, but not in that desperate tragedy that’s prevalent in youth.
I am just grateful to know of her existence, like some mythical creature that no one else can say for certain that they know…
I know, and I will keep this secret and search the good search. For if there’s 1… there could be others?
Dennis Mantin

In the microcosm of my work, in the film industry, our transportation team is headed up by a coordinator, a captain, and a co-captain…
Mad Willie told me about a past trio that had gained some notoriety for a mixture of chaos and entertainment. They were known collectively as the alcoholic, the cocaine addict and God.
I will protect their real identities, mainly because I feel strongly about discretion and anonymity… another reason is I consider God to be a close personal friend. 

Dennis Mantin
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