Reviews

Rush Home Road

While wonderful novels about the black immigrant experience are not uncommon in Canada, few novelists, black or white, have written about the country’s long-settled black communities. First-time novelist Lori Lansens – a white screenwriter living ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

★ Silent Cruise

By Timothy Taylor

The tale of Timothy Taylor should by now be part of the folklore of contemporary Canadian writing. Under a blind jury, he took three of 12 possible positions in the 2000 Journey Prize Anthology of ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Salvage

By Michael Crummey

In his poetry, short stories, and his novel, River Thieves, Michael Crummey makes effortless music on the page. Like a sculptor giving equal attention to the immediate carved surface and the overall shape he has ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

The Wife’s Account

By Esta Spalding

The Wife’s Account is Esta Spalding’s fourth book of poetry in just over seven years. In the vividly imagistic style that has established her reputation, the collection (we are told on the dust jacket) encapsulates ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

No Foreign Bones in China: Memoirs of Imperialism and Its Ending

By Peter Stursberg

Effective tour guides to that other country – the past – generally share two attributes: top-notch research skills and imagination. Longtime journalist Peter Stursberg’s strong investigative skills are evident throughout his account of his ancestor’s ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

When Words Deny the World: The Reshaping of Canadian Writing

By Stephen Henighan

Cultural commentators have been trumpeting a Canadian literary renaissance for the past decade or so, citing lucrative foreign sales, international prizes, and worldwide media attention for our literary fiction. Canadian is hot, the headlines read. ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Criticism & Essays

Alone in the Appalachians: A City Girl’s Trek from Maine to the Gaspé

By Monique Dykstra

Despite extensive outdoor experience writing for such publications as Alaska Magazine and Canoe and Kayak, writer and photographer Monique Dykstra bravely admits that she wasn’t sure what she was getting herself into when she decided ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Reference

Free as in Speech and Beer: The Internet, Gift Economies and the Intellectual Property Crisis

By Darren Wershler-Henry

In the aftermath of the dot-com bust comes Darren Wershler-Henry, an irreverent voice dancing on the dead bones of e-business hype and devalued high-tech stocks. Free as in Speech and Beer is a wonderful primer ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: Politics & Current Affairs

Power and Greed

By Philippe Gigantes

Philippe Gigantes, a Greek-born Canadian journalist, political commentator, and senior civil servant in Trudeau’s government, offers a thought-provoking and accessible survey of world history in his new book, Power and Greed. As the title suggests, ... Read More »

January 22, 2004 | Filed under: History

Better to Have Loved: The Life of Judith Merril

By Judith Merril and Emily Pohl-Weary

Pioneering science fiction author and political activist Judith Merril was not one to mince words or follow convention, so it’s no surprise that she bluntly states in her introduction to Better to Have Loved that ... Read More »