MEMOIR: My Private Chinatown by Grahame Ware * The literature of remembrance turns the lost world of objects into emblems of a bygone culture. What is lost can be repossessed through memory and writing, for it is in the vagaries of consciousness in retracing lost dreams that possession can best be established. Writing about memories…
Read more #501 My Private Chinatown
Michael Lait reviews two books: Small Cities, Big Issues: Reconceiving Community in a Neoliberal Era by Christopher Walmsley and Terry Kading (editors) Edmonton: Athabasca University Press, 2018 $37.95 / 9781771991636 Free pdf available here. * No Straight Lines: Local Leadership and the Path From Government to Governance in Small Cities by Terry Kading (editor) Calgary:…
Read more #473 Small cities take centre stage
Awesome Ancient Grains and Seeds: A Garden-to-Kitchen Guide. Includes 50 Vegetarian Recipes by Dan Jason and Michele Genest Madeira Park: Douglas & McIntyre, 2018 $24.95 / 9781771621779 Reviewed by Grahame Ware * It’s always hard to review a publication whose identity and structure has a turbid editorial focus. There are many literate types who would…
Read more #443 Grains of yore to the fore
Freshly Picked: A Locavore’s Love Affair with BC’s Bounty by Jane Reid Halfmoon Bay: Caitlin Books, 2018 $26.00 / 9781987915792 Reviewed by Claire Mulligan First published Dec. 1, 2018 * Now that I have savoured the lustrous pages of Jane Reid’s warm-hearted and witty book Freshly Picked, A Locavore’s Love Affair with BC’s Bounty, I…
Read more #436 Calling all locavores
Amber River: A Guide to Unique Pubs of Vancouver Island and the Salish Sea by Glen Cowley Surrey: Hancock House, 2018 $24.95 / 9780888390752 Reviewed by Ian J.M. Kennedy * I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy of Amber River: A Guide to Unique Pubs of Vancouver Island and the Salish Sea…
Read more #389 A porous potpourri of 85 pubs
Sustenance: Writers from BC and Beyond on the Subject of Food by Rachel Rose (editor) Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2017 $25.00 / 9781772141016 Reviewed by Alan Belk First published June 26, 2018 * It would be easy to review Sustenance as a representative of the literary genre Coffee Table: a beautifully illustrated collection of short pieces…
Read more #330 Rachel’s food for thought
Sustenance: Writers from BC and Beyond on the Subject of Food by Rachel Rose (editor) Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2017 $25.00 / 9781772141016 Review by Caroline Woodward First published Dec. 20, 2017 * As Poet Laureate for the City of Vancouver from 2014-2017, Rachel Rose wanted a community project which offered another world view than the muttering…
Read more #225 Food & community in Vancouver
Aqua Vitae: A History of the Saloons and Hotel Bars of Victoria, 1851-1917 Glen A. Mofford Victoria: TouchWood Editions, 2016 $19.95 / 9781771511896 Reviewed by Martin Segger First published Jan. 10, 2017 * For a community that has been known to present its history as a Edenesque garden-city on the fringes of the British Empire,…
Read more #70 Getting tipsy in Victoria
Brewing Revolution: Pioneering the Craft Beer Movement by Frank Appleton Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2016 $24.95 / 9781550177824 Reviewed by Joe Wiebe First published No. 28, 2016 * In 1978 the back-to-the-land magazine Harrowsmith published a subversive how-to article, “The Underground Brewmaster.” It was written by Frank Appleton of Edgewood, formerly a supervisor at O’Keefe…
Read more #49 Talk is cheap, beer is better