Book News Vol. 5 No. 42

BOOK NEWS

Festival News
Tickets are on sale for the 23rd Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival. For up-to-the-moment 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 at Blackberry Books. In North Vancouver, check out 32 Books.

There are some fabulous events for students as this year's Festival that still have room for a class or two. A great event with some of our world-renowned authors will inspire, entertain and educate young people of all ages. You can get more information on available events here, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/teachers/available_school.

The Vancouver International Writers Festival presents Literati, a gala fundraising dinner in support of Spreading the Word, the educational program of the Vancouver International Writers Festival. Literati is presented by Scotia Private Client Group. Join Literati host Bill Richardson and many of the 2010 Festival authors for an evening of festivity, food and literary laughs, and performances by Rebecca Jenkins, Joel Bakan and Ballet BC dancers. Complete details here, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/literati.

This year's Festival art raffle prize is a painting by Bau-Xi Gallery artist Jamie Evrard, which will be on display at Performance Works during the Festival - or stop by the VIWF office at 1398 Cartwright Street on Granville Island to view it now! Raffle details here, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/literati/raffle.

Virtual Festival
The latest recording in our recently launched series of archived events from Festivals-past features Andrea Levy, who is appearing in three events at this year's Writers Festival. No one reads quite like her. Sit back and enjoy her on stage interview with Bill Richardson. http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/multimedia/audio-archives

Special Events

Stevie Cameron
Vancouver International Writers Festival presents a special free event with journalist Stevie Cameron. Her new book is On the Farm: Robert William Pickton and the tragic story of Vancouver’s missing women. Details at http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/cameron.

Stuart McLean
Stuart McLean talks with Hal Wake about his new book The Vinyl Café Notebooks, a collection of wonderfully eclectic essays selected from 15 years of his CBC radio program. Please join us for a rare, intimate evening with one of Canada's best loved storytellers. Details here, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/maclean.

Sara Gruen
The Vancouver International Writers Festival and Random House Canada present the author of Water for Elephants reading from her new book Ape House. Details here, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/gruen.

The bonobo apes demonstrate more humanity than many of the humans in Sara Gruen's new novel Ape House, writes Monique Polak.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/Sara+Gruen+novel+House+bonobo+apes+show+more+humanity+than+humans/3535317/story.html

Gary Shteyngart
Vancouver International Writers Festival and the Cherie Smith JCGV Jewish Book Festival present the author of Super Sad True Love Story in conversation with Eleanor Wachtel. Details here, http://www.writersfest.bc.ca/events/shteyngart.

James Urquhart says that some of the strongest scenes in Gary Shteyngart's SuperSad True Love Story "sustain...snatched intimacy in defiance of the debased, wired world around. None is so allusive or erotic as when Lenny indulges his taboo addiction for reading actual books, as opposed to superficially 'text-scanning for data'."
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/super-sad-true-love-story-by-gary-shteyngart-2087677.html


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

In his review of David Grossman's To the End of the Land, Colm Tóibin writes: "This is one of those few novels that feel as though they have made a difference to the world."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/books/review/Toibin-t.html?nl=books&emc=booksupdateema1

The New Yorker includes a profile of David Grossman by George Packer.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2010/09/27/100927fa_fact_packer

In her review of The End of the Ice Age, Cherie Thiessen writes that Terence Young uses poetry and deft phrasing to flesh out his characters.
http://www.abcbookworld.com/view_author.php?id=5391

Ken Finkleman and Trevor Cole take very different approaches toward black-hearted laughs, says Nathan Whitlock. Finkleman's Noah's Turn is "a nasty joy".
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/866101--noah-s-turn-and-practical-jean

Caroline Adderson's The Sky Is Falling blends two time frames—the mid-1980s, a time in a Vancouver filled with idealistic views of peace, feminism, and other social issues and then 20 years later—examining the radicalism of youth and the wisdom of age.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/radicalism+youth+wisdom/3579263/story.html

Michael Winter has turned the very real facts of a St. John's murder trial into a compelling work of fiction in The Death of Donna Whalen, says Alex Good.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/866193--the-death-of-donna-whalen-true-crime-means-art

Of Gail Bowen's The Nesting Dolls, Gail Kasturi writes: "this latest Kilbourn mystery is a good read with some nicely shocking moments, and fans of the series will enjoy it."
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2010/09/24/book-review-the-nesting-dolls-by-gail-bowen/

Margaret Cannon writes about Quintin Jardine's A Rush of Blood: "It’s difficult to believe that the 20th Bob Skinner novel could be as good as the first, but it is."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/new-in-crime-fiction/article1711946/

Kevin Sylvester's Neil Flambé and the Aztec Abduction is the second in the Neil Flambé Capers series of mysteries. Reviewer Joan Yolleck writes that the two books are best read in sequence to fully grasp the history, humour and intensity of the very likeable main characters.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/review-neil-flamb-and-the-aztec-abduction-by-kevin-sylvester/article1727656/

AWARDS & LISTS

Michael Helm, Sarah Selecky, Joan Thomas, Jane Urquhart, and Kathleen Winter—who are all appearing at the Festival in October—are among the authors on the longlist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/09/20/giller-longlist.html

Michael Helm, Emma Donoghue, and Kathleen and Michael Winter are among the finalists for the $25,000 Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. And local author Sarah Leavitt is nominated for the Writer's Trust Non-Fiction Prize.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/emma-donoghue-kathleen-and-michael-winter-among-finalists-for-writers-trust/article1732371/

Nigerian-born writer Chinua Achebe has captured the $300,000 US Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize, recognition for his life's work of more than 20 volumes of short stories, essays, poems, and novels.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/09/25/achebe-gish-prize.html

Crime writer Peter Robinson has won the 2010 Harbourfront Festival Prize, which rewards writers who have had a "substantial contribution to the world of books."
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/09/22/robinson-harbourfront-prize.html

Top 100 Food Plants: The World's Most Important Culinary Crops by Ernest Small won the inaugural Lane Anderson Prize of $10,000 for Canadian science writing.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/09/21/edible-plants-lane-anderson-ernest-small.html

Canadian author Melissa Madore is the "Canada and Europe" regional prize-winner in the 2010 Commonwealth Short Story Competition for her story Swallow Dive.
http://www.commonwealthfoundation.com/Howwedeliver/Prizes/CommonwealthShortStoryCompetition/2010winners

Don DeLillo has won the PEN/Saul Bellow Award.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/27/don-delillo-pen-saul-bellow-award

Denise Chong is one of the finalists for the Ottawa Book Awards, in the category of English Non-Fiction, for her book Egg on Mao: the Story of an Ordinary Man Who Defaced an Icon and Unmasked a Dictatorship.
http://www.city.ottawa.on.ca/residents/arts/funding_awards/book_awards/finalists_en.html

Hiromi Goto has won the 2010 Sunburst young adult award for Half World, a book she presented at the 2009 Festival.
http://www.sunburstaward.org/content/2010-sunburst-winners

NEWS & FEATURES

Vintage has re-issued Margaret Atwood's Handmaid's Tale in honour of the book's 25th anniversary this year. Charlotte Newman writes that "this novel seems ever more vital in the present day".
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/26/the-handmaids-tale-margaret-atwood

Penguin has launched Allen Lane Canada, a non-fiction imprint which will focus on serious non-fiction, not just history.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/866590--penguin-launches-new-non-fiction-imprint

American libraries and bookshops are celebrating the freedom to read this week but attempts to force books off shelves are still rife across the country. Toni Morrison and Kurt Vonnegut are among those to have faced recent bans in American schools.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/sep/27/celebrated-novels-us-censors

Memoirists have occasionally had difficulty with references to family members in a book. Now Irish poet Rita Ann Higgins has been forced to have Hurting God, her latest work, pulped following objections from her millionaire brother who took exception to references to him and their mother.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/poet-forced-to-pulp-book-after-row-with-her-family-2091318.html

BC's Poetry in Transit program has launched this year's poems for public transit.
http://thetyee.ca/ArtsAndCulture/2010/09/27/MovingWords/?utm_source=mondayheadlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=270910

BOOKS & WRITERS

David Rakoff's essays make the case for expecting the worst and the book jacket warns "No Inspirational Life Lessons Will Be Found in These Pages".
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/books/review/Scheft-t.html?nl=books&emc=booksupdateema3

An excerpt can be found here.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/26/books/review/excerpt-half-empty.html?ref=review

Rakoff's writing and response to his cancer is quite different from his sister Ruth's writing about hers.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/david-and-ruth-rakoff-one-disease-two-very-different-books/article1728446/

David fears cancer but what he really hates is the musical Rent. Vit Wagner's review reminds us of Rakoff's capacity to see the half-full glass.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/863097--author-david-rakoff-s-negative-charge

While driving with his publisher and a box of books in the trunk on a low-key publicity tour, Alexander MacLeod learned that his debut short story collection, Light Lifting, was on the longlist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/866164--alexander-macleod-s-giller-surprise

Jim Bartley writes: "Like most of these seven stories, Light Lifting offers a vivid rendering of settings and cast and a satisfying scene-to-scene momentum."
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/books/review-light-lifting-by-alexander-macleod/article1723850/

Geoff Nicholson reviews Alain de Botton's A Week at the Airport, the result of de Botton's having accepted an invitation to spend a week at Heathrow Airport as writer in residence at the newly opened Terminal 5, and then, in full view of passengers and staff, to draw together material for a book. "De Botton seems well aware of the inherent absurdity of his project," says Nicholson, adding that "a few hours with de Botton, even in an airport, will be time well spent."
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/24/RVCQ1F1T7Q.DTL

COMMUNITY EVENTS

ON EDGE READING SERIES
Reading by poet Garry Morse. Thursday, September 30 at 7:00pm, free. Library, Emily Carr University, Granville Island. More information here, http://www.ecuad.ca/about/news/71335.

ROBSON READING SERIES
Readings by Mette Bach (Off the Highway) and Melanie Siebert (Deepwater Vee). Thursday, September 30 at 7:00pm, free. UBC Library, Robson Square (plaza level, 800 Robson Street).More information at www.robsonreadingseries.ubc.ca.

DAN GREEN
Readings from the author's debut work of fiction, Blue Saltwater, an historical drama which follows one Haida teenager's experience within the residential school system and his struggle to return home. Friday, October 1 at 7:30pm, free. Silk Purse, 1570 Argyle Ave., West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7292.

BOB MERSEREAU
Launch of author's new book, Top 100 Canadian Singles. Sunday, October 3 at 5:00pm. Zulu Records, 1972 4th Ave. W. More information at www.zulurecords.com.

ANNABEL LYON
Discussion by the author of The Golden Mean. Monday, October 4 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen and Peter Kaye rooms, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at 604-331-3603.

CAROLINE ADDERSON
Award-winning author reads from her new novel, The Sky is Falling. Tuesday, October 5 at 7:00pm, free. Alice MacKay room, lower level, Central Library, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at 604-331-3603.

CBC RADIO STUDIO ONE BOOK CLUB
On October 5, the CBC Radio Studio One Book Club is pleased to once again partner with CBC Ideas to present the 2010 Massey Lecturer in an exclusive book club taping. This year Vancouver's own Douglas Coupland presents the first ever Massey in fiction! In "Player One: What is to Become of Us", Doug has created a five hour story that explores time, human identity, society, religion and the afterlife. Enter to win free tickets and a preview of the Masseys at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.

GILLIAN JEROME
Author reads from her first book of non-fiction, Hope in Shadows: Stories and Photographs from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. Thursday, October 7 at 12:30pm, free. Room 7100, Special Collections, W.A.C. Bennett Library, SFU, 8888 University Drive, Burnaby. More information at 778-782-6676.

BREN SIMMERS
Author launches her first book of poetry, Night Gears. Also a reading by Ben Hart and live music by Lisa O'Neill. Thursday, October 7 at 7:00pm. Montmartre Cafe, 4362 Main Street.

RAYMOND VERDAGUER
Canadian printmaker and book illustrator Raymond Verdaguer will talk about prints and book illustrations done in the media of copper plates, woodcuts and linocuts. Thursday, October 7 at 7:00pm, free. Oakridge Public Library, southeast corner of Oakridge Shopping Centre; free parking.

GRANT LAWRENCE
Join CBC Radio’s Grant Lawrence for the launch of his debut book Adventures In Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound ($26.95, Harbour Publishing) at the Museum of Vancouver (1100 Chestnut Street, Vancouver) on Thursday, October 7th at 7:00 pm. Grant’s days spent in Desolation Sound as a child led him away from the coast to a life in music and journalism and eventually back again. In Adventures in Solitude, Grant returns to regale us with tales of this unique place. This free event will be held in the MOV Studio with musical performances from Jill Barber and Said the Whale. A cash bar will be available. For more information regarding Grant’s book launch in Vancouver, please call the Museum of Vancouver at 604.736.4431.

DOUG SAUNDERS
Pacific Arbour Speaker Series presents the author of Arrival City, a new book analyzing the rise of mega-cities in a vastly changing world. Thursday, October 7 at 7:30pm. Tickets $15/$12 and are available at www.capilanou.ca/theatre or 604-990-7810. Kay Meek Centre, 1700 Mathers Ave., West Vancouver.

CROSS BORDER POLLINATION
An evening of poetry and prose with the Cross-Border Pollination team. Wednesday, October 13 at 7:00pm, free. Alma VanDusen room, Central Branch, VPL, 350 West Georgia Street.

GURJINDER BASRAN
Winner of the Great BC Novel contest launches her new novel, Everything Was Good-bye. Wednesday, October 13 at 7:30pm, free. Central Branch, VPL, 350 West Georgia Street. More information at www.mothertonguepublishing.com.

THE MAKING OF THE SZYK HAGGADAH, A SACRED JEWISH TEXT
Irvin Ungar, Proprietor, Historicana Books, Burlingame, California will speak about the making of this sacred text in Limited, Deluxe and Premier editions. Thursday, October 14 at 7:00pm, free. Pulp Fiction Books, 2422 Main Street (Main & Broadway).

Upcoming

ARTHUR BLACK
Luncheon, reading and book signing with the author of A Chip Off the Old Black. Thursday, October 21 at 11:00am. Preregistration required. West Point Grey United Church, 4595 8th Ave. W. More information at 604-224-4388.

CHARLES CLAPHAM
Author launches his second edition of the Great Walks of Vancouver. Thursday, October 21 at 7:00pm, free. Silk Purse, 1570 Argyle Ave., West Vancouver. For more information, phone 604-925-7292.

BOOK LAUNCH
Tightrope Books presents the Vancouver launch for The Best Canadian Poetry in English 2010, edited by Lorna Crozier and Series Editor Molly Peacock. Saturday, October 23 at 4:00pm. The Agro Café, 1363 Railspur Alley, Granville Island. More information at www.tightropebooks.com.