Glorious Birds: A Celebratory Homage to Harold and Maude by Heidi Greco Vancouver: Anvil Press, 2021 $18.00 / 9781772141719 Reviewed by Linda Rogers * The shadowy figures on the cover of this slight but not inconsequential book by Heidi Greco could be sitting in a movie theatre or on the roof of the world with… Read more 1142 Harold & Maude: curiosity & desire
Stories from the Magic Canoe of Wa’xaid by Cecil Paul as told to Briony Penn Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2019 $30.00 / 9781771602952 * Following the Good River: The Life and Times of Wa’xaid by Briony Penn with Cecil Paul Victoria: Rocky Mountain Books, 2020 $38.00 / 9781771603218 Both books reviewed by hagwil hayetsk Charles… Read more 1139 The late Wa’xaid: Cecil Paul
Resilience Through Writing: A Bibliographic Guide to Indigenous-Authored Publications in the Pacific Northwest before 1960 by Robert E. Walls, edited by Darby C. Stapp Richland, WA: Journal of Northwestern Anthropology, Memoir 20, January 2021 $34.95 (U.S.) / 9798566579900 Reviewed by John Lutz * The very quotable English essayist Charles Lamb wrote that bibliographies are “books… Read more 1137 Resurrecting Indigenous voices
The Colour of God by Ayesha S. Chaudhry Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada (Oneworld Publications), 2021 $30.00 / 9781786079251 Reviewed by Phyllis Reeve * Sibghatullah, “the colour of God” in Qur’anic Arabic, is the name of the author’s little nephew, whose sudden death at the age of 4 provides a frame for Ayesha Chaudhry’s narrative…. Read more 1135 An Islamic-Canadian journey
ESSAY: “The Noise of Time”[1] and the Removal of History? by Robin Fisher * In 1957 a group of anthropologists went ashore at SG̱ang Gwaay, which they knew as Ninstints, the site of a long deserted Haida village on Anthony Island. With ropes, pulleys and crosscut saws they lowered a few of the surviving totem… Read more 1124 “The Noise of Time” and the Removal of History?
Soft Zipper: Objects, Food, Rooms by George Bowering, with an introduction by Lisa Robertson Vancouver: New Star Books, 2021 $19.00 / 9781554201723 Reviewed by Sheldon Goldfarb * The reviewer realizes he has never read George Bowering. Played baseball with him once, or softball. UBC English Department versus SFU. There he was, all in black, playing… Read more 1122 Bowering’s magic and mirrors
Four Umbrellas: A Couple’s Journey Into Young-Onset Alzheimer’s by June Hutton and Tony Wanless Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2020 $21.99 / 9781459747791 Reviewed by Lee Reid * “Ah yes, I remember it well,” is the comical reminiscing of mismatched memories from the iconic film Gigi (1958). In the nostalgic film, two aging lovers sing about their… Read more 1121 A testament to resilience
Home on the Strange: Chronicles of Motherhood, Mayhem, and Matters of the Heart by Susan Lundy Victoria: Heritage House, 2021 $22.95 / 9781772033649 Reviewed by Margot Fedoruk * “Sometimes moms just need a little escape, even if it’s just a fantasy,” says Susan Lundy in one of the many entertaining stories in her book, Home… Read more 1119 Mother’s Day on Salt Spring
Letters from the Pandemic 32: Hidden in Plane Sight by Keith Shapland * In 1969 when I was seven, Robin Shapland, my father, a Boeing engineer, hid me in the trunk of our 1967 Impala so that he could sneak me past security at the gate and onto Boeing Field in Seattle so that we could… Read more Letters from the Pandemic 32: Hidden in Plane Sight
This One Wild Life: A Mother-Daughter Wilderness Memoir by Angie Abdou Toronto: ECW Press, 2021 $21.95 / 9781770416000 Reviewed by Ginny Ratsoy * Having recently experienced a large number of contemporary memoirs, I have found myself researching and mulling over the characteristics of the genre. How does a memoir differ from an autobiography? The memoir… Read more 1112 Mulling on memoir & motherhood
Here on the Coast: Reflections from the Rainbelt by Howard White Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2021 $24.95 / 9781550179248 Reviewed by Howard Macdonald Stewart * Is this Howard White’s swan song? Probably not, but it would be a good one if it was. White has been an important player on the west coast literary scene… Read more 1110 Cedar stumps and coastal rambles
New Yorkers: A City and its People in Our Time by Craig Taylor Toronto: Penguin Random House (Doubleday Canada), 2021 $39.95 / 9780385681636 Reviewed by Brian Harvey * My one visit to New York was on August 11, 1977 and it lasted two hours. I remember suffocating heat, a sense of vertigo from all those… Read more 1109 Stories in the voice of New York
Dear Scarlet: The Story of My Postpartum Depression by Teresa Wong Vancouver: Arsenal Pulp Press, 2019 $19.95 / 9781551527659 Reviewed by Claire Sicherman * When I first held a copy of Teresa Wong’s Dear Scarlet: The Story of my Postpartum Depression, I fell in love with the cover. On it, an image of a woman’s… Read more 1103 A graphic memoir of endurance
MEMOIR: HRH: A nodding acquaintance by Maria Tippett * On the occasion of the death of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (1921-2021), we present an extract from the diary of art historian Maria Tippett of Pender Island of the visit to Trinity Hall, Cambridge, by Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh in November… Read more 1097 HRH: A nodding acquaintance
Outside In: A Political Memoir by Libby Davies Toronto: Between The Lines, 2019 $26.95 / 9781771134453 Reviewed by Alex Netherton * Libby Davies’ Outside In is an extraordinary political memoir that chronicles and reflects upon her life and political career first as an urban activist and then eventually as the Deputy Leader of the NDP… Read more 1096 A master of urban politics
Improbable Journeys: From Crossing the Himalayas on Horseback to a Career in Obstetrics and Gynaecology by Dr. Bernard A.O. Binns and Ron Smith Oakville, ON: Rock’s Mills Press, 2020 $29.95 / 9781772441932 Reviewed by May Q. Wong * Editor’s note: for a subsequent review of Improbable Journeys by John Kenwright, see The Ormsby Review, June… Read more 1089 A lifetime of care and medicine
Stardust: memoir and essays by an astronomer who became a psychiatrist by Jaime Smith Vancouver: Granville Island Publishing, 2021 $19.95 / 9781989467305 Reviewed by Sheldon Goldfarb * Editor’s note: Jaime Smith’s new book Stardust, reviewed here by Sheldon Goldfarb, contains Smith’s essays and his previously-published memoir Foxtrot: Notes from the Bear Cave, reviewed here by Peter Ward in… Read more 1088 Music, extinction, and stardust
Gwich’in K’yuu Gwiidandài’ Tthak Ejuk Gòonlih: Our Whole Gwich’in Way of Life Has Changed: Stories from the People of the Land by Leslie McCartney and Gwich’in Tribal Council Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2020 $99.99 / 9781772124828 Reviewed by Daniel Sims * “Publish or perish” is an axiom of professional academics, especially those employed by… Read more 1086 The voice of Gwich’in Elders
No Ordinary Seaman: A Memoir by Gary H. Karlsen Victoria: First Choice Books, 2018 $22.95 / 9781775266907 Reviewed by Eric W. Sager * There are many paths into adulthood. One way is to leave home and go to sea. It is an old path, followed by many young men (and women too) through the ages,… Read more 1084 The education of a seafarer
Watermelon Snow: Science, Art, and a Lone Polar Bear by Lynne Quarmby Montreal & Kingston: McGill-Queens University Press, 2020 $24.95 / 9780228003595 Reviewed by Theo Dombrowski * Books about climate change are prolific—and for all the alarming reasons that most of us accept. Watermelon Snow, by Lynne Quarmby, is essentially a book about climate change,… Read more 1076 Reflections on an Arctic voyage