Book News Vol. 5 No. 39

BOOK NEWS

Festival News
Tickets are on sale for the 23rd Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival. For complete Festival information please visit our website: writersfest.bc.ca, or pick up a copy of the Festival program guide at various Lower Mainland locations including Book Warehouse locations, Chapters, Sitka Books and Art, Vancouver Public Library branches and on Granville Island including Blackberry Books.

There was an excited buzz about Cloud Atlas author David Mitchell's appearance at the Festival as soon as it was announced, and An Intimate Evening with David Mitchell (event 60) sold out during VIWF earlybird ticket sales. Mitchell fans needn't despair however; due to the overwhelming demand, we've added another solo event, An Intimate Afternoon with David Mitchell (event 68) at 5:00 pm Saturday, October 23, at the Waterfront Theatre.

Famed cartoonist/author Lynda Barry (Ernie Pook's Comeek) will also be making an additional appearance at the Festival. In addition to a Sunday morning workshop and an event with local graphic memoirist Sarah Leavitt, Barry will join Aaron Bushkowsky, John Gould and Rachel Wyatt in event 57 The Lighter Side, on Saturday Oct 23 at 2pm.

Virtual Festival
The latest recording in our recently launched series of archived events from Festivals-past features Simon Winchester in conversation with Hal Wake. One of the most entertaining writers ever to grace a VIWF stage, Simon Winchester tells the dramatic story of the San Francisco earthquake as only he can. http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/multimedia/audio-archives

Special Events

John Vaillant
The author of the multi-award-winning The Golden Spruce will discuss his new book The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival, a gripping tale of man and nature in collision, that leads inexorably to a final showdown in a clearing deep in the Siberian forest. Details here, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/vaillant.

The accolades for John Vaillant's The Tiger continue to come in—Joe Wiebe in the Vancouver Sun adds to earlier reviews: "...Reader, if you're wondering why you'd want to read a book about tigers set in Russia, remember that the same could be said for the many thousands of people who never expected to find themselves reading, and loving, a book about a golden spruce on a remote island off the B.C. coast."
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Tiger+tiger+burning+brighter+than+ever/3481396/story.html

Simon Winchester, who knows the Primorye Krai well, writes: "if this book did happen to ring slightly less than true, believe me, I would know. But it doesn't. Any skepticism on my part was quite unwarranted. This turns out to be a quite brilliant addition to the – admittedly very spare – literature of the region. And it is a book that recounts with power and excitement the true story of a titanic confrontation that took place deep in the Ussuri forests, in the harsh midwinter at the end of 1997."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/review-the-tiger-a-true-story-of-vengeance-and-survival-by-john-vaillant/article1694374/

An essay by John Vaillant on how he was blindsided by The Tiger can be found here.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/exit-the-tiger/article1694479/

Alissa York and Richard Harvell
Please join us as Giller-shortlisted author Alissa York and debut novelist Richard Harvell read from their new works. Details at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/yorkharvell.


2010 FESTIVAL AUTHORS
The following authors are among those appearing at the Festival in October or participating in special events in the fall.

Paolo Giordano's haunting novel The Solitude of Prime Numbers is "a finely tuned machine powered by the perverse mechanics of need".
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/11/books/review/Schillinger-t.html?_r=1

Tayari Jones writes that Andrea Levy's insightful recent novel, The Long Song, reminds us she is one of the best historical novelists of her generation. Her heroine narrates the beginning of the end of slavery in Jamaica, coming to a climax with the 1831 Baptist War. "This story of a single woman is a story of the ages."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/07/AR2010050704891.html

An extract from The Long Song can be found here:
http://www.andrealevy.co.uk/the_long_song/index.php

The stories in Yiyun Li's Gold Boy, Emerald Girl are "exquisitely made, and function with a vast, metronomic precision that eschews anything inessential", says David Mattin in The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/gold-boy-emerald-girl-by-yiyun-li-2067796.html

The Story of Flight is published in the New Yorker's ‘20 Under 40 Fiction' series.
http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/08/30/100830fi_fiction_li

Here is a Q & A with Yiyun Li.
http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/06/14/100614fi_fiction_20under40_qa_yiyun-li

Yiyun Li has disconnected herself from the Internet in order, she says, to become a better,calmer bookworm.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/03/RVH11F6787.DTL&type=books

Jane Urquhart's first novel in five years includes a climax that surprised even the author, writes Vit Wagner.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/855924--urquhart-s-surprise

Emily Donaldson finds that Jane Urquhart's Sanctuary Line has at once the sprawling feel of a multi-generational epic and the shuttered confinement of a one-act play. "One of the most grounded of Urquhart's books." http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/855141--sanctuary-line-jane-urquhart-nails-another-novel

Ian McGillis argues in the Gazette that "when the dust from the current tussle settles, Sanctuary Line - measured, dignified, calm on the surface but containing as much thematic richness and plain literary pleasure as a reader could care to dig for - will still be standing."
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/novel+Sanctuary+Line+Jane+Urquhart+revisits+classic+CanLit+territory/3479145/story.html

An interview with Emma Donoghue addresses the matter of the possible connections between Donoghue's Room and the notorious case of Austrian monster Josef Fritzl.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/emma-donoghues-restrained-novel-about-two-captives-illuminates-the-power-of-parental-love/article1695433/

The Guardian series Once Upon a Life focuses this week on Emma Donoghue.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/05/once-upon-life-emma-donoghue

Wlliam Gibson's Zero History features an amnesiac caught up in some high-tech espionage. It is about surveillance, through GPS or CCTV, and about being on and off the radar. It is also about clothes. Gibson's inventive descriptions (Bigend's ghastly suit looks like "antimatter paired with mohair") are reminiscent of Douglas Adams's offbeat humour.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/zero-history-by-william-gibson-2061839.html

Gibson also weighs in on the future of publishing.
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/09/06/william-gibson-on-the-future-of-book-publishing/

Jack Batten reminds us that, as in previous Joanne Kilburn novels, Gail Bowen's The Nesting Dolls is as much domestic drama as crime novel.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/850598--the-nesting-dolls-and-crime-machine

AWARDS & LISTS

Emma Donoghue, Andrea Levy, Damon Galgut, Howard Jacobson, Peter Carey and Tom McCarthy have been shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/emma-donoghue-among-six-finalists-for-booker-prize/article1697851/

The Guardian adds details on the judging process and on the authors—both those shortlisted and those, not.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/07/booker-prize-shortlist-drops-frontrunners

The Telegraph offers a review of all of the shortlisted titles.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booker-prize/7986949/Man-Booker-Prize-2010-shortlist-announced.html

NEWS & FEATURES

Terry Pratchett talks about his new young adult novel I Shall Wear Midnight (the last in his Tiffany Aching series) and about living with a very rare form of Alzheimer's. "I'm open to joy. But I'm also more cynical." http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/01/terry-pratchett-alzheimers-assisted-suicide?CMP=EMCGT_020910&CMP=EMCNEWEML961

Steve Silberman interviews Oliver Sachs prior to the release in October of his new book The Mind's Eye.
http://blogs.plos.org/neurotribes/2010/09/01/oliver-sacks-on-vision-his-new-book-and-surviving-cancer/

"Publishing's notion of what women want is dated and patronizing. In my case it's like trying to stuff a rottweiler in a dress" writes Lionel Shriver.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/sep/02/publishers-ghettoise-women-writers-and-readers?CMP=EMCGT_030910&CMP=EMCNEWEML961

Neil Gaiman's comic series The Sandman (winner of the World Fantasy Award) is to be adapted as a TV series.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/09/02/neil-gaiman-sandman.html

La carte et le territoire (The map and the territory), the latest book by the French author Michel Houellebecq was supposed to be his least incendiary yet. However, there is another brewing controversy: alleged plagiarism—of the book title and several passages from Wikipedia.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/07/michel-houllebecq-novel-plagiarism-accusation

"I stole from Wikipedia, but it's not plagiarism", says Houellebecq.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/i-stole-from-wikipedia-but-its-not-plagiarism-says-houellebecq-2073145.html

Theresa Breslin talks about bringing the past to light through writing historical fiction for contemporary readers. Breslin is on the longlist for the Guardian' children's fiction prize.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/02/theresa-breslin-bringing-past-life

She reads "real" books; he reads e-books. Or vice versa. And the publishing industry is paying close attention, trying to figure out how to market books to households that read in different ways.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/technology/02couples.html?_r=1&hpw

"Culture is another word for people", says David Adams Richards in his contribution to analyses of major issues in the 2010 N.B. election.
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/nbvotes2010/story/2010/08/31/nb-david-adams-richards-culture-131.html?ref=rss

Do the cultural gatekeepers really give white male fiction writers preferential coverage over authors of the distaff and ethnic variety? Slate did some research.
http://www.slate.com/id/2265910/

Vit Wagner suggests ten international titles to watch for this fall.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/856501--10-books-to-watch-for-this-fall

Who buys books? 40-year old women and others, concludes the Seattle Times.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/books/2012801171_litlife06.html?syndication=rss

BOOKS & WRITERS

Nicholas Shakespeare and Bruce Chatwin's widow Elizabeth have selected and edited Bruce Chatwin's letters in Under the Sun: The Letters of Bruce Chatwin. Blake Morrison describes the book as "a handsome book, full of informative passages and illuminating quotes."
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/04/bruce-chatwin-letters-nicholas-shakespeare

Catherine Taylor describes Annabel Lyon's The Golden Mean as a "justifiably garlanded novel".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/04/first-novels-review-roundup

In an interview with Sean O'Hagan, Irish writer Claire Keegan claims short stories are limited. Her short story Foster will appear as a stand-alone book. This rare honour is fully deserved, says O'Hagan.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/05/claire-keegan-short-story-interiew

André Alexis reports that Hans Keilson's novella Comedy in a Minor Key is a mixture of grief, hope, fear and, if such a thing is possible, dry slapstick—a tonally eccentric work. The book was first published in 1947; it has taken until now to be translated into English. "It's the work of a consummate artist, a wonderful writer," says Alexis. Keilson is now 100.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/review-comedy-in-a-minor-key-by-hans-keilson/article1694235/

COMMUNITY EVENTS

SPIDER ROBINSON
The Library's sixth Writer in Residence will read from some of his many award-winning works and talk about the writing process at his inaugural reading. Thursday, September 9 at 7:00pm, free. Alice McKay room, lower level, Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia Street. For more information please contact Vancouver Public Library at 604-331-3603.

SAGA THURSDAY ARTIST TALK
Discussion and reading by Monika Ullmann, author of The Life and Art of David Marshall, a book about the Vancouver-based sculptor. Thursday, September 9 at 7:30pm, free. Surrey Art Gallery (13750 88 Ave., Surrey). More information at www.arts.surrey.ca.

GARY GEDDES
Reading by the author from his latest book of poetry, Swimming Ginger. Monday, September 13 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen Room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. For more information, phone 604-331-3603.

THE LEGACY
People's Co-op Bookstore and Greystone Books present a live appearance by David Suzuki in support of his book The Legacy: An Elder's Vision for Our Sustainable Future. Friday, September 17 at 8:00pm. Kitsilano Secondary (2550 W. 10th). More information at www.legacy.davidsuzuki.org.

KATHY PAGE AND ALISSA YORK
Authors will be reading from their works. Saturday, September 18. Bolen Books (111 - 1644 Hillside Avenue, Victoria). For more information, visit www.kathypage.info or contact Bolen Books, (250) 595-4232.

Upcoming

SARAH LEAVITT
Book launch of Tangles: A story about Alzheimer's, my mother and me. Also live music and a silent auction to benefit selected Alzheimer's charities. Tuesday, September 21 at 7:00pm, free. Heritage Hall, 3102 Main Street.

SUSAN BOYD
Join the author as she reads from her book Hooked: Drug War Films in Britain, Canada and the United States. Wednesday, September 22 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. For more information, phone 604-331-3738.

JOHN PASS AND THERESA KISHKAN
Authors will be reading from their works. Thursday, September 23 at 12:30pm, free. Refreshments will be served. Special Collections, room 7100, 7th floor of the W.A.C. Bennett Library, Simon Fraser University, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby.

THE RAVEN'S GIFT
Author John Turk will read from his new book. Thursday, September 23 at 7:00pm. Banyen Books & Sound, 3608 4th Ave. West.

KOOTENAY BOOK WEEKEND
Discuss four books in small groups throughout the weekend. This year's books are The Reluctant Fundamentalist by Mohsin Hamid, The Winter Vault by Anne Michaels, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barberry and our guest author, Anita Rau Badami's book Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? September 24-26, 2010, Nelson BC. Further information and registration forms can be found here, www.kootenaybookweekend.ca.

DAVID GLENN
The Burnaby Arts Council will host a launch of The Queen's Sword and The Queen's Jewels. Saturday, September 25 at 1:00pm. Deer Lake Gallery, 6584 Deer Lake Avenue, Burnaby.

ROBERT BATEMAN
One of the world's greatest wildlife artists signs his new book, Bateman: New Works. Saturday, September 25 at 2:00pm. Chapters Broadway and Granville, 2505 Granville Street. More information at 604-731-7822.

SHILPI SOMAYA GOWDA
Meet Canadian author Shilpi Somaya Gowda as she signs copies of her debut novel, Secret Daughter. Saturday, September 25 at 4:00pm. Chapters Park Royal, 900 Park Royal South, West Vancouver. More information at 604-922-3222.

EVENING THE FRAYED EDGES
Launch of the Recovery Narrative Project's first anthology of collected works, edited by Susan J. Katz, featuring a series of narratives and poems bringing first-hand accounts of turning points in recovery from mental illness. Sunday, September 26 at 7:00pm, free. John Braithwaite Community Centre, 145 West 1st Street, North Vancouver.

WORD ON THE STREET
Annual event dedicated to promoting reading and literacy throughout the community. Sunday, September 26 from 11am to 6pm. Library Square, Central Libray, 350 West Georgia Street. For more information, visit www.thewordonthestreet.ca/wots/vancouver.

JACK WHYTE
Bestselling author from Kelowna, BC, signs the first book in his exciting new trilogy, The Forest Laird. Monday, September 27 at 7:00pm. Chapters Marine Drive, 1025 Marine Drive, North Vancouver. More information at 604-988-6681.

EVOLVE: VAMPIRE STORIES OF THE NEW UNDEAD
Listen to Vancouver writers Mary Choo, Sandra Wickham and Celdae (Colleen) Anderson, 3 of 22 Canadian authors featured in this most unusual and compelling collection as they re-imagine the future of vampires. Monday, September 27 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen & Peter Kaye rooms, lower level, Central Library, 350 W. Georgia Street. For more information phone 604-331-3691.

MICHAEL NICHOLL YAHGULANAAS
Reading by the author of Red. Thursday, September 30 at 1:00pm, free. Lillooet Room (level 3), Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, 1961 East Mall, Vancouver. More information at www.ikebarberlearningcentre.ubc.ca.