book until after it had been published. Galloway had been advised to contact Smajlović, who had purposefully embraced a quiet, private life in Warrenpoint, Northern Ireland, but did not do so. When Smailović learned of the publication, he expressed feelings of indignation and dismay, objecting to the use of his story and his personal information without permission or compensation, and pointing out differences between the story and his actual life. However, a meeting between the two took place in 2012, moving a step closer to conflict resolution. Galloway, who has been described as "honest and talented young man with no intentions to steal", claimed that Smailović's act of playing the cello as a protest was a public act, and that fiction writers were under no obligation to pay those who inspired them, and that it was unreasonable to expect that. Galloway insisted that the cellist in his story, while inspired by the photos and story of Smailović, was imaginary. Galloway sent the cellist a signed copy of the book. The Confabulist The Confabulist is a story told some time after 2010 by an elderly man named Martin Strauss who claims to have killed Harry Houdini. Mostly employing flashbacks, the novel alternates between Houdini's point of view and Strauss's point of view to describe the years leading up to their 1926 encounter in Montreal. Several aspects are historically accurate including attempts to have Houdini join espionage circles, and his efforts to champion skepticism over spiritualism. However, it gradually becomes clear that Strauss is an unreliable narrator. The Confabulist was shortlisted for The Rogers Trust Fiction Prize and received favourable reviews from Marcia Kaye of The Toronto Star and Keith Donohue of The Washington Post. In the National Post, Zoe Whittall said "But this is Steven Galloway we’re talking about — a brilliant Vancouver novelist, and the author of The Cellist of Sarajevo — and I believe that, no matter the setting or conceit, a good novelist can make anything worth your while. And Galloway is nothing if not a good novelist. I’m happy to report that The Confabulist, his fourth novel, is a stunning achievement." Conversely, Jenny Hendrix of the New York Times criticized the narrative as heavy handed. References External links Steven Galloway and the lessons of The Cellist of Sarajevo at the Toronto Star.com Steven Galloway at the University of British Columbia's Creative Writing Program website Audio interview re: