"The Luck of Ginger Coffey" by Brian Moore

The luck of the Irish meets the Great Canadian Dream., April 29, 2003
Reviewer: from Ottawa, Ontario Canada
I truly love this book. In it, Brian Moore explores one man's heroic attempt to shift position in the world. Ginger Coffey leaves the unpromising economic situation in Dublin Ireland to pursue his idea of the Great Canadian Dream. With wife and daughter in tow, he arrives in Montreal in the dead of winter with $15.03 to his name. He has been waiting a long time for this golden opportunity. It soon becomes apparent however, that Canada was not as eagerly waiting for him!
He manages to land a job at The Tribune, but rather than his desired position as journalist, he wallows among the other galley slaves as a lowly proofreader. They collectively suffer under an exploitative and humiliating boss, MacGregor. …