Trudeau: The Education of a Prime Minister

John Ivison doesn’t think much of Justin Trudeau. That, at least, is the inescapable conclusion one reaches after reading the National Post columnist’s new political biography of Canada’s 23rd prime minister, a tart and frequently ... Read More »

August 7, 2019 | Filed under: Politics & Current Affairs

★ From the Ashes: My Story of Being Métis, Homeless, and Finding My Way

By Jesse Thistle

Jesse Thistle has lived a hard life. A descendent of Saskatchewan’s Michif “road allowance” people (who lived on small strips of land between homesteads that were unused by the Crown), his parents were not able ... Read More »

July 29, 2019 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography, Native Peoples, Reviews

Coventry: Essays

By Rachel Cusk

One of the great pleasures of a well-executed essay is not its structure, the clarity of its argument, or the distillation of its ideas, but the opportunity to see a great mind in action. In ... Read More »

July 25, 2019 | Filed under: Criticism & Essays, Reviews

One Small Sacrifice

By Hilary Davidson

The new novel from Toronto-born thriller writer Hilary Davidson starts with a bang: “When he heard the gunshot, Alex Traynor threw himself face first onto the pavement.” While this incident turns out to be Traynor ... Read More »

July 18, 2019 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels, Reviews

★ The Youth of God

By Hassan Ghedi Santur

Hassan Ghedi Santur’s novel The Youth of God is a heart-stopping story that traces the life of Nuur, a teenager growing up in a Somali neighbourhood of Toronto. This is also a story about Mr. ... Read More »

July 18, 2019 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Fog

By Rana Bose

James M. Cain was once quoted as saying he wanted to write about “the average man, from the fields, the streets, the bars, the offices, and even the gutters of his country.” It seems Montreal-based ... Read More »

July 15, 2019 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels, Reviews

★ Bunny

By Mona Awad

Mona Awad’s Bunny is gripping, frenetically readable, and bewilderingly erotic. In this exploration of how women’s repressed rage and desires can manifest, Awad weaponizes cuteness in a ferocious and dynamic way. The author’s second novel ... Read More »

July 15, 2019 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels, Reviews

New Brunswick

By Shane Neilson

Shane Neilson’s New Brunswick is an homage to his native province and, more importantly, homeland. It begins in a dramatic and unorthodox manner: a dedication that includes a verse by John Donne and an epigraph ... Read More »

July 11, 2019 | Filed under: Poetry, Reviews