Stan On Guard: A Two-Part Invention by K.R. Wilson

Stan on Guard: A Two-Part Invention by K.R. Wilson is the anticipated sequel to the Leacock nominated Call Me Stan: A Tragedy in Three Millennia. Wilson has once again revisited a breadth of historical events and characters, combining them with wit and irreverence to formulate a compelling and entertaining narrative. In a very clever twist, Stan is a chatty narrator who is upset with K.R. Wilson and proceeds to explain why.

Wilson has once again revisited a breadth of historical events and characters, combining them with wit and irreverence to formulate a compelling and entertaining narrative.

Stan tells us that he is a three-thousand-year-old immortal who has had several names and identities over the centuries. In one of his previous lives, he was called Ishtanu and killed Tror (Thor), who was Tróán’s son. Tróán, also an immortal, has stalked Ishtanu/Stan across the world and through the centuries in order to exact revenge. In fact, Tróán believed that Stan had already been killed, but when they read K.R. Wilson’s book about Stan’s adventures, they realized he was still alive.

Stan recounts the many countries he has lived in, the famous people he has met and befriended, and the jobs he has had. In addition to these accounts, he has much to say about Homer’s version of Odysseus, the Teutonic Knights, Nietzsche, Rodin, Isadora Duncant, Renault, Rilke, Matisse, Coco Chanel and fighting with the Germans in WWI.

Wilson’s text is both witty and funny, with many inside jokes and asides for readers who are familiar with history. The narrative is shared between Stan and Tróán, each chronicling their story in alternating chapters. In one of Tróán’s chapters, Helen of Troy is briefly discussed in one of Wilson’s humorous insertions:

The man nudged his neighbour and chuckled.  “Just ask that Trojan prince, eh?”
I stiffened.  “Trojan prince?”
“Him who kidnapped Menelaus’ wife.  Started the whole mess.”
“Gorgeous, that Helen.”
“Saw her then, did you?”
“Well, no.  But she had to be, didn’t she? You don’t send a thousand ships after a donkey-face.”

The strength of Wilson’s research is that it is both disparate and impeccable, while many of the wry asides are informative. This social commentary about life in Paris contains delightful historical detail:

The way into Paris’s cultural life was through salons. Women – it was always women – in all strata of society vied to attract the finest guests. For some that meant members of the fading aristocracy. For others it was professionals or politicians or diplomats. For still others it was the most au courant artists or musicians. Of course there was overlap.  A Duchess was welcome almost anywhere, though she would take care to choose cautiously. A doctor a judge or a ministerial secretary might try to work his way – it was always a him – from less prestigious salons to more advantageous ones by cultivating influential friends at each level.

Stan’s revelations often touch upon human emotion. Poignant disclosures pepper the text:

Occasionally Jimmy would take me to a public rally in support of the war effort… As the months passed the number of disabled veterans in the crowds grew. 

For one event in the summer of 1917, he insisted I wear my uniform.  “Come on, it’ll be special.” Trying to jolly me into it. I just kept shaking my head. I was doing enough pretending as it was. The uniform felt like a line I shouldn’t cross. Eventually he sighed and dropped the jollying. “Listen, John, here’s the thing.” He put a hand on my forearm. “I know you’re injured, and you know you’re injured. But you don’t look injured to other people.

Following Stan on his adventures is to be carried through time and events not only as an intimate observer but also from vantage points that provide perspectives and voices other than the canonical. As we are privy to the protagonist’s inner thoughts, one is challenged to consider Wilson’s messaging about identity and personhood. This is an extraordinary work by a tantalizingly gifted writer.

K. R. Wilson’s novel An Idea About My Dead Uncle won the inaugural Guernica Prize in 2018, and his novel Call Me Stan was long-listed for the 2022 Leacock Medal. His work has appeared in various literary journals and the flash fiction anthology This Will Only Take a Minute.

Publisher: Guernica Editions (March 1, 2026)
Paperback 9″ x 6″ | 200 pages
ISBN: 9781778490125

Lucy E. M. Black

Website

Lucy E.M. Black (she/her/hers) is the author of The Marzipan Fruit Basket, Eleanor Courtown, Stella’s Carpet, The Brickworks and Class Lessons: Stories of Vulnerable Youth. A Quilting of Scars will be released October 2025. Her award-winning short stories have been published in Britain, Ireland, USA and Canada. She is a dynamic workshop presenter, experienced interviewer and freelance writer. She lives with her partner in the small lakeside town of Port Perry, Ontario, the traditional territory of the Mississaugas of Scugog Island, First Nations.