And the Winner Is...Sigh. Come On Up, Ondaatje

Yaaaaawwwwwwn.
Michael Ondaatje's Divisadero has earned him his fifth Governor General's Literary Award.

For those of you who have not read the book, it is named after a street in San Francisco that has nothing to do with any of the three plotlines that are very loosely strung together in what may be Ondaatje's least accomplished novel.

Of course Ondaatje has more talent than most writers in this country but did he really need another dust collector?

The jurors Austin Clarke, Eden Robinson and Rudy Wiebe had this to say about the book:

Lyricism and whimsy are necessary ingredients of brilliant narrative language, and Michael Ondaatje achieves this magnificently in Divisadero. He establishes, in excellent measure, his mastery of poetic seduction, while mindful to include tenderness, compassion and grace. Grace, after all, is the ultimate gift which Ondaatje offers us in Divisadero.

Is lyricism and whimsy really necessary for brilliant narrative language? Really?