The English have long been renowned for masking their feelings, hiding emotion behind rules of etiquette and dry humour, and, dare I say it, exuding a sort of coldness. Yes, us Brits have always had a reputation for restrained passion – that is the beauty of British classics. The tension between Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. … Continue Reading
Books, Reviews
by Steven Partridge The end papers of Tibor Fischer’s new book take design inspiration from Greek pottery and the London Underground. The former prefixes a story about the Trojan War, the latter a woman who returns to her London flat to find the locks are changed. The reader can choose which story to read first and … Continue Reading
Books, Reviews
“Atmospheric Disturbances” by Rivka Galchen is like a large white onion, many-layered and sharp, and makes one blink the eye rapidly—in wonderment, of course. Very simplistically, it is the story of a search for a missing person. Or, if one looked at it upside down, it could be about atmospheric changes that are orchestrated. Leo … Continue Reading
Books, Reviews
In this sequel to I’m With the Band, we get a behind-the-scenes look into the life of the world’s most famous rock and roll groupie, Pamela Des Barres. In 1987, a book came out that had people questioning the morals of the rock band groupie. What was once a world of sexual exploits, drugs and … Continue Reading
Books, Reviews
I’ve been hearing a lot about Tobias Wolff recently. After studying the Collected Works of Raymond Carver last year, I watched the Criterion Collection edition of Robert Altman’s film “Short Cuts”, a jazz-inspired pastiche of Carver stories set against the paranoid backdrop of early 1990s Los Angeles. In a documentary included on DVD’s bonus features, … Continue Reading
Books, Reviews
Barry Hannah sings a drunken ode to youth, beauty and the power of language Holding your breath can be a career-ending habit for any skydiver. Caught up in the moment, it is all too easy to forget this most basic of bodily functions. Then pass out, forget to pull the rip cord, and fall witless … Continue Reading
Books, Reviews
First published in 1987, “I’m With the Band: Confessions of a Groupie” chronicles the life of the legendary rock groupie of the 60s and 70s – Pamela Des Barres. Eighteen years later, the sexy story coveted by any serious classic rock lover was re-released with a new foreword by Dave Navarro and updates from the … Continue Reading
Books, Reviews
by Katherine Birchall I once asked a friend of mine whether she had read “Jane Eyre”. On replying that she had not she added, “It’s really not my thing, those sort of novels”. What, I pondered, could she mean by this? Perhaps she meant books that young children are forced to study until they hate them … Continue Reading
Books, Reviews
Pity the character who inhabits a Joy Williams short story, for there is little happiness in store for them there. Williams got her start in the 1970s and 80s, at the height of the minimalist period known as “K-Mart Realism”, when authors such as Raymond Carver, Ann Beattie, and Bobbie Ann Mason were reinventing the … Continue Reading
Books, Reviews
Last year was big for Canadian literature. Both The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt and Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan made an international splash while picking up nominations for most of the huge literary awards. Meanwhile, Vancouverite authors Michael Christie and Zsuszi Gartner both received recognition for their collections of short fiction. As it turns … Continue Reading
Books, Reviews
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