The Bushman’s Lair: On the Trail of the Fugitive of the Shuswap by Paul McKendrick Madeira Park: Harbour Publishing, 2021 $22.95 / 9781550179224 Reviewed by Sage Birchwater * In the early 2000s the Bushman of the Shuswap was on the national news. More of a nuisance than a menace perhaps. He lived off the avails…
Read more 1140 Bushman Bjornstrom of Shuswap
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
Astra by Cedar Bowers Toronto: Penguin Random House (McClelland & Stewart), 2021 $24.95 / 9780771012891 Reviewed by Brett Josef Grubisic * As a spectral visitor to western Canada in the 1970s, Karl Marx would have rolled his eyes at Celestial Farm. Or, more likely, he would have written an article denouncing it — barely a…
Read more 1138 Cariboo counterculture
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
Food Floor: My Woodward’s Days by Margaret Cadwaladr Langley: Madrona Books & Publishing, 2020 $15.95 / 9871999546519 Reviewed by Mary Gale Smith * Margaret Cadwaladr has created a little book of stories that will be of interest to anyone who worked at Woodward’s or in a grocery store, or who buys groceries. It is a…
Read more 1136 Dollar 49 day, Woodward’s
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
The Reporter and the Winnipeg General Strike by Michael Dupuis (text) and Michael Kluckner (illustrations) Vancouver: Granville Island Publishing, 2020 $24.95 / 9781989467282 Reviewed by Ron Verzuh * Winnipeg 1919: A unique retelling of the historical general strike may reach new and younger audiences We’ve heard many versions of the 1919 Winnipeg General Strike story….
Read more 1134 Winnipeg’s historic moment
The Memory Collectors by Kim Neville Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada (Atria Books), 2021 $23.00 / 9781982157586 Reviewed by Misao Dean * I am a bit of a packrat. I can’t resist flea market tables and antique stores crowded with “stuff.” Often the things that appeal to me are not particularly valuable – vintage bar…
Read more 1133 A museum for feelings
Vancouver for Beginners by Alex Leslie Toronto: Book*hug Press, 2019 $18.00 / 9781771665346 Reviewed by Jessica Poon * It’s easier to think of Vancouver as paradise when you don’t live there. I spoke to a Californian today on the phone who positively rhapsodized about Vancouver being a world-class city. “I’ve visited nineteen times,” he said,…
Read more 1132 Vancouver for professionals
Desire Path by Taryn Hubbard Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2020 $16.95 / 9781772012637 Reviewed by Michael Turner * The relationship of poetry and place is an age-old fascination that figured prominently in the self-conscious development of a modern North American literature. Long before his poem “This Is Just to Say” (1934) became a social media cat toy,…
Read more 1131 Surrey Up!
The Last Exiles by Ann Shin Toronto: HarperCollins (Park Row Books), 2021 $16.99 / 9780778312017 Reviewed by Theo Dombrowski * Stepping into the first few pages of Ann Shin’s The Last Exiles, some readers may feel they’ve entered the recognizable world of dystopian fiction. After all, this is a world “where women in skirt suits…
Read more 1130 A docudrama of defection
Hurry Home by Roz Nay Toronto: Simon and Schuster Canada, 2020 $24.99 / 9781501184826 Reviewed by Miranda Marini * Sisters are often described as having a transcendental and unbreakable bond based in their shared experiences, friendship, and love for each other. However, the same cannot be said for the Van Ness sisters in Roz Nay’s…
Read more 1129 A tale of two sisters
ESSAY: Stanley Park: The Mirror and the Mask by Jordan Johnston * Stanley Park is a mirror that reflects the desires of those who look in it. On a map, this bright green peninsula stands apart from the city centre, as if held at arm’s length. Vancouver, like any other city, has poverty, and crime,…
Read more 1128 Stanley Park reflections
One Good Thing: A Living Memoir by M.A.C. Farrant Vancouver: Talonbooks, 2021 $19.95 / 9781772012842 Reviewed by Mary Leah de Zwart * M.A.C. [Marion Alice Coburn] Farrant is an accomplished author, playwright, and humourist, living on the Saanich Peninsula near Sidney, BC. She has seventeen publications to her name, ranging from a novel and short…
Read more 1127 The Chesnut-Farrant exchange
The Good Father by Wayne Grady Toronto: Penguin Random House (Doubleday Canada), 2021 $24.95 / 9780385694667 Reviewed by Ginny Ratsoy * Readers with a predilection for touching, even heartbreaking, plots served up with a good measure of satire and acerbic one-liners will be satiated by the latest from UBC professor Wayne Grady. Set in 2009-2010,…
Read more 1126 Retreat, rescue, repair
Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook, From Aphrodite to Zeus, a Profile of Who’s Who in Greek Mythology by Liv Albert, illustrated by Sara Richard Toronto: Simon & Schuster (Adams Media), 2021 $22.99 / 9781507215494 Reviewed Linda Rogers * “He said, she said.” Oral storytelling is like court evidence without benefit of cell…
Read more 1125 Greek myths for the age of anime
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?
Burning the Night by Glen Huser Edmonton: NeWest Press, 2021 $19.95 / 9781774390115 Reviewed by Brett Josef Grubisic * A novel with history on its mind, Burning the Night opens confidently as an attractive series of images and striking narrative portions: fictional Yarrow, Alberta in post-war Canada; an inquisitive, artistic youth residing in a house…
Read more 1123 Roots & effects of obsession
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