Book News Vol. 5 No. 47

BOOK NEWS

Special Event

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.

"Gary Shteyngart's latest novel, Super Sad True Love Story, signals his move out of Soviet territory and into a near-future New York City, where books have no place in a hyper-technological society", writes Natalie Jacoby in The Paris Review.
http://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2010/07/27/gary-shteyngart/

However, Amelia Glaser, in a review called Gary Shteyngart, Old Man, concludes: "This book made me a little less frightened of growing up with him".
http://www.openlettersmonthly.com/gary-shteyngart-old-man/


AWARDS & LISTS

Johanna Skibsrud is the winner of the 2010 Scotiabank Giller Prize. Her book The Sentimentalists was handprinted by Gaspereau Press.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-giller-prize/johanna-skibsrud-wins-giller-prize-for-the-sentimentalists/article1792687/

Nobel and Pulitzer prize-winning U.S. author Toni Morrison has been made an officer of the French Legion of Honour. France's culture minister, Frederic Mitterrand called Morrison, "the greatest American novelist of her time."
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/11/03/toni-morrison-legion-honour.html

Michel Houellebecq, who has fanned controversy with his writings and comments on women and Islam, has won the Prix Goncourt for his latest work, La Carte et Le Territoire. The 105-year-old prize comes with a €10 ($14) purse, but it guarantees literary acclaim and high sales for the winner.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/controversial-author-michel-houellebecq-wins-frances-top-literary-prize/article1789772/

The (Australian) Prime Minister's Literary Awards, each with a $100,000 Australian cash prize, have been awarded.
http://www.cbc.ca/arts/books/story/2010/11/08/australian-literary-awards.html

Rebecca Skloot's "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" has won the £25,000 Wellcome Trust Book Prize. The book is, in part, the history of a poor black tobacco worker who died of cervical cancer and whose cancer cells, taken without her knowledge, became an essential part of medical research in the 20th century.
http://www.wellcomebookprize.org/News/Announcements/WTX063313.html

Three B.C. children's authors—K.L. Denman, Gina McMurchy-Barber, and Wendy Phillips—are finalists for this year's Governor General's Literary Awards. Adult English-language author finalists include Sandra Birdsell, Emma Donoghue, Drew Hayden Taylor and Kathleen Winter. The full list of nominees can be found here:
http://canadacouncil.ca/prizes/ggla/2010

Canadians voted for their favourites from a list of the essential top 40 Canadian novels of the past decade, resulting in the following ten titles on the Canada Reads shortlist.
http://www.cbc.ca/books/canadareads/

NEWS & FEATURES

Each autumn's literary awards season highlights a publishing conundrum: the big publishers tend to dominate—and have the capacity to print many additional copies of their shortlisted titles, with opportunities for economies of scale in printing and distribution.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/the-giller-prize/giller-list-highlights-a-publishing-conundrum/article1787892/

Small presses such as Gaspereau Press in Kentville, N.S., where each book is printed and bound on the premises, focus on considerations other than economies of scale.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/gaspereau-press-and-the-peril-of-the-giller/article1771622/

Talking Books started as an aid for blinded World War I veterans and elderly people with failing eyesight. Seventy-five years later, recorded books are enjoyed by millions as an alternative to the printed word.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/news/sales-soar-as-talking-books-mark-75-years-2127347.html

John Barber recommends that writers preparing for reading tours examine David Sedaris' readings, including his understanding of audiences.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/wowing-an-audience-the-david-sedaris-way/article1784572/

Why are the Irish so good at the short story, and why do they love it so much, asks Anne Enright.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/06/anne-enright-irish-short-story

An interview with Garry Trudeau on the occasion of the publication of 40: A Doonesbury Retrospective, a collection from the most important, and most hilarious, comic strip of our era.
http://www.slate.com/id/2271947/

The memoir of a former Boston prison librarian reveals prisoners' book preferences.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/oct/27/memoir-prisoners-book-choices

Mordecai Richler is considered an icon of Canadian literature, but a fledgling campaign calling for Montreal to rename a public space after the author is drawing some opposition.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/886214--petition-to-name-street-in-quebec-after-mordecai-richler

Readers are furious at sudden and significant increases in Amazon's Kindle prices with some digital editions now costing the same as, or more than, printed books. They are protesting by giving books one-star reviews on the retailer's website.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/03/ebook-prices-kindle-amazon-protests

Savethewords.org offers people a chance to adopt a disappearing word and then drop it casually into everyday conversation.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2010/nov/07/rescuing-obscure-words

Stuart McLean, whose Vinyl Café Notebooks (Penguin Canada) is currently enjoying bestseller status, has reportedly recorded a special episode of The Vinyl Café in which he talks about some of his favourite bookstores. The program is scheduled to air on November 20, 21, and 23.
http://www.cbc.ca/vinylcafe/home.php

BOOKS & WRITERS

The Star's Book Editor Dan Smith has compiled an annotated list of book titles dealing with Canadian military history and related themes, ranging from World War II to Afghanistan, standard military histories and personal narrative, biography, poetry and graphic art.
http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/books/article/887035--canada-at-war-remembrance-day-by-the-books

The National Post offers a more detailed review of Scott Chantler's Two Generals.
http://arts.nationalpost.com/2010/11/05/book-review-two-generals-by-scott-chantler/#more-16141

Samantha Nutt writes that Romeo Dallaire's book is a sobering look at at the systematic failure of peacekeepers, UN agencies, NGOs and others to effectively deal with the pervading abuse of children in combat.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/arts/books/they-fight-like-soldiers-they-die-like-children-by-romo-dallaire/article1787085/print/

Sue Montgomery writes that Dallaire provides clear solutions in They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children.
http://www.montrealgazette.com/entertainment/books/crime+against+humanity/3784807/story.html

Sunday's New York Times' Book Reviews includes a special section of reviews of Children's Books and Y.A. blockbusters.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/books/index.html

Robert Wiersema's BedtimeStory is entirely consuming, writes Roz Spafford.
http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/Wiersema+work+power+devour+readers/3787883/story.html

It is possible to begin ones life's work at seventy-two, we learn from Molly Peacock's biography of Mary Granville Pendarves Delaney, a woman who invented a new art-form and created a body of work considered a national treasure.
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Peacock+delights+story+woman+invented+form+18th+century/3787887/story.html

Stacy Schiff's biography of Cleopatra portrays the Egyptian ruler as a shrewd political strategist, writes Wendy Smith.
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-ca-stacy-schiff-20101107,0,2749115.story

Kathryn Harrison adds: "Cleopatra mythologized herself before anyone else had the chance."
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/books/review/Harrison-t.html?nl=books&emc=booksupdateema1

Here is an excerpt:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/books/review/excerpt-cleopatra.html?ref=review

The Independent (UK) describes John Vaillant's The Tiger as a book that moves with subtlety and grace, commands a vast terrain--and has the power to shake the observer's soul.
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/the-tiger-by-john-vaillant-2125185.html

Whether he sets his tales in Africa, his native Trinidad or anywhere else, writes Eliza Griswold, V. S. Naipaul is always writing about V. S. Naipaul. But The Masque of Africa marks a startling shift: Naipaul is willing to express a new attitude, one of self-doubt.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/books/review/Griswold-t.html?nl=books&emc=booksupdateema3&pagewanted=all

Salon.com asks: Is Adam Levin the new David Foster Wallace? The Instructions is a brilliant new novel about a young Jewish boy that recalls Philip Roth and Infinite Jest, writes Maud Newton.
http://www.salon.com/books/our_picks/index.html?story=/books/feature/2010/11/02/adam_levin_the_instructions

In her review of The Hilliker Curse, Elaine Showalter describes James Ellroy as the Ancient Mariner of LA Noir. She recommends the book, both to Ellroy cultists and as a marketing guidebook for aspiring women writers who struggle with diffidence, modesty and self-deprecation.
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/the_tls/article7168318.ece

In an interview with Sarah Crowne, Bernard Cornwall discusses how his most recent novel The Fort challenges American long-held assumptions about Paul Revere.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/video/2010/nov/03/bernard-cornwell-fort-novel

COMMUNITY EVENTS

ROMEO DALLAIRE
Author of They Fight Like Soldiers, They Die Like Children: The Global Quest to Eradicate the Use of Child Soldiers discusses the practice of using children in conflicts. Thursday, November 11 at 7:30pm. Tickets $20. Kay Meek Centre, 1700 Mathers Avenue, West Vancouver. More information at http://www.kaymeekcentre.com/on_stage/979.

MIKE MCCARDELL
Book signing by TV personality and author of Everything Works. Two appearances on Saturday, November 13: first at 1:00pm at Black Bond Books White Rock (Semiahmoo Mall) and then at 3:30pm at Black Bond Books Ladner (Trenant Park Square Shopping Centre). For more information about the signing, phone Black Bond Books at 604-536-3336 (Semiahmoo Mall) or 604-946-6677 (Ladner).

CBC RADIO STUDIO ONE BOOK CLUB
Singer/songwriter, rancher and grassland conservationist Ian Tyson will be here with his new memoir The Long Trail: My Life in the West. Ian reflects on how his love for the West started in Victoria, nurtured and inspired his musical talent, taught him life lessons in the saddle, and has saved his soul. Sunday, November 14. Enter to win free tickets at www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub.

PEN-IN-HAND
Readings by poets bill bissett, Jim Christy, Susan Stenson and Linda Rogers. Monday, November 15 at 7:30pm. Serious Coffee, 230 Cook Street, Victoria.

JUNE HUTTON
White Rock Library in partnership with the Community Arts Council of White Rock & District hosts June Hutton for a discussion of her book Underground. Tuesday, November 16 at 2:00pm, free. Register by phoning 604-541-2201. White Rock Library, 15342 Buena Vista, White Rock. More information at www.fvrl.bc.ca.

SEMIAHMOO ARTS' LITERARY SERIES
Reading by June Hutton, the author of Underground. Tuesday, November 16 at 7:30pm, free. Pelican Rouge Coffee House, 15142 North Bluff Road, White Rock. More information at www.semiahmooarts.com.

HUMANITALES
An evening of storytelling with Jan Derbyshire, Julie McNamara, and David Roche. Tuesday, November 16 at 7:30pm. Pay what you can at the door. W2 Storyeum, 151 W. Cordova. More information at info@kickstart-arts.ca.

DRAWING LIFE
Learn how to illustrate your own guide to life, the universe, and everything, with graphic-novel artist Julian Lawrence. No experience necessary; materials provided. Wednesday, November 17 at 6:30pm. Central Branch, 350 W. Georgia Street. More information at www.vpl.ca/obov.

PLAY CHTHONICS
Surrey-based poet and author Phinder Dulai and Ontario author Daniel Heath Justice read from their works. Wednesday, November 17 at 7:30pm. Graham House, Green College, 6201 Cecil Green Park Road. More information at www.playchthonics.blogspot.com.

SAY WHA?
Comedic performers Morgan Brayton, Riel Hahn, Shaun Stewart, Ryan Steele, Sarah Szloboda, and host Sarah Bynoe read from the most cringe-worthy, awful, and painfully earnest writing in print. Wednesday, November 17 at 8:00pm. Tickets: $10/5. Cottage Bistro, 4470 Main Street). More information at www.sarabynoe.com.

SCIENCE FICTION BOOK DISCUSSION GROUP
The sci-fi book under discussion this month is Poul Anderson's A Midsummer's Tempest. Thursday, November 18 at 7:00pm. The Grind & Gallery, 4124 Main Street. More information at darthbuddy2000@yahoo.ca.

CHRIS CZAJKOWSKI
Presentation and slide show by the author of A Wilderness Dweller's Cookbook: The Best Bread in the World and Other Recipes. Thursday, November 18 at 7:00pm, free. Capilano Branch Library, 3045 Highland Blvd., North Vancouver. More information at 604-987-4471.

SEE THE VOICE
Visible Verse's 10th anniversary celebration and festival. November 19-20, 2010. Pacific Cinematheque, 1131 Howe Street. For complete program details, visit http://tinyurl.com/24u5n3z.

JEWISH BOOK FESTIVAL
Authors include Stanley Coren, Martin Fletcher, Myla Goldberg, Daniel Kalla, Gary Shteyngart, and Eleanor Wachtel. November 20-25, 2010. Jewish Community Centre, 950 W. 41st Ave. More information at www.jewishbookfestival.ca.

KAT VON D
Join tattoo artist and television star of LA Ink, as she signs copies of her new book The Tattoo Chronicles. Monday, November 22 at 7:00pm. Chapters Robson, 788 Robson Street.

Upcoming

ATLANTIC/PACIFIC: AN EVENING OF POETRY
Readings by Judy Halebsky and Sandy Shreve. Thursday, November 25 at 7:30pm, free. People's Co-op Bookstore, 1391 Commercial Drive.