Robertson Davies Do you know of the great Canadian writer Robertson Davies? You'd remember the look. Bearded. With an ascot. Though he died in 1995, he seemed like a character out of the 19th century, an actor in a dramatization of Dickens. Davies did not need that eccentric self-presentation to get attention. His books made him a legend in Canada --- and, thanks to "Fifth Business", around the world. And it all started with one image. In 1960, Robertson Davies conjured a Christmas scene in a small town in Canada. One thing happens: A boy throws a snowball at another boy. “That was all there was to it,” he'd later recall, “but it came so often and was so insistent that I had to ask myself, Why is that boy doing that, and what is behind this, and what is going on?" It turns out that there is a rock inside the snowball that Percy Boyd “Boy” Staunton throws at his friend Dunstan “Corky” Ramsey at 5:58 in the afternoon on December 27, 1908. It misses Ramsey --- and hits Mrs. Dempster, wife of the Baptist parson, in the back of the head. She is extremely pregnant, and, when she falls, she goes into labor. Her son, Paul, is born prematurely and must fight for life. Mrs. Dempster is said to be “touched”. “Corky” Ramsey, age 10, is forever wracked with guilt because of the secret he cannot reveal. Only “Boy” Staunton forgets the incident entirely. What is "fifth business"? A squib at the start of the novel tells us it's a name given to a character in opera and drama who is "neither hero nor heroine, confidante nor villain." In short, a character of apparent unimportance. And yet this character is "essential to bring about the recognition" --- he's an agent of fate, one of those messengers sent to bring a single catalytic message. You've seen him in your own life: the guy who shows up one night and drops in your ear an insight you desperately need, the woman whose small act of kindness turns you in a new direction. Here, I believe, that character is ”Corky” Ramsey, a comparative non-entity. And this is his life story. Kind of a turn-off --- how compelling are the memoirs of a bachelor schoolmaster retiring after 45 years of service as a history teacher at a Canadian boys school? Just from your own experience of the men and women who taught you, you'd have to say: Not very. In fact, Ramsey has had a magical life. I don't want to give away the ending, but it completes the story of that snowball. It turns out that 'Fifth Business” is not just Ramsey's memoir. In 272 brisk pages, it covers World War I, sex and love in the 1920s, investment strategies before the Crash of 1929, a magic trick that spawns a career. It's a psychological thriller, and much more. It begins in the now and opens into the extraordinary. In a deceptive way, it's a study of life itself --- the large panorama, seen whole, encompassing both daily life and the realm of marvels. And that is why, for readers who like books that work on several levels, this is a completely addictive novel. Even better, Fifth Business is the opening shot in a trilogy. So brace yourself. You may find yourself going right on to The Manticore and World of Wonders.  Davies has that power. -- by Jesse Kornbluth, for HeadButler.com To buy “Fifth Business” from Amazon.com, click here. To buy “The Manticore” from Amazon.com, click here. To buy “World of Wonders” from Amazon.com, click here. Copyright 2007 by Head Butler Inc.