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The Bibliophile: Scathing, surgical, and colourfully entertaining

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Mark Bourrie’s Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre has quickly become a national bestseller; this week, it sits at #3 on the Canadian Nonfiction list. Despite initial worry that the election call would hinder the media’s ability or willingness to cover a critical biography of the Opposition leader, it’s great to see Bourrie’s hard work pay off. And we’re especially grateful for all the journalists who are showing up to write thoughtful, non-partisan coverage during this increasingly terrifying period. We’re also grateful to the people who are taking the time to read books like Ripper ahead of election day (or any day): we all have to stay vigilant.

Dominique Béchard,
Publicist

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Ripper: Ottawa Launch

The Walrus

“Poilievre is a pro-American libertarian who moralizes the sufferings of the marginalized, insists the free market has inherent genius, drives wedges between the regions of the country, and exploits class envy. By the early winter of 2025, the political gears of the country changed. The political fight in Canada quickly became about who was best to face the external threat and whose ideas were best to help Canadian families and businesses at a time of real danger. On April 28, we’ll know if his brand of politics will survive the very crisis it claimed to prepare for.”
—Mark Bourrie, excerpted from Ripper

Globe and Mail

“Mark Bourrie has produced a searing but convincing critique of the Conservative Leader’s shortcomings that will give pause to anyone outside the diehard Poilievre base.”
Charlotte Gray

“In his pull-no-punches book, Mr. Bourrie portrays Mr. Poilievre as one serious ripper: mean, sneering, insulting, truth-evading, skilled at whipping up mass anger.”
Marsha Lederman

“If Pierre Poilievre is going to win, shake [the comparison to Trump] he must. This book, with all its pungent reminders of his record, will make it harder to do.”
Lawrence Martin

“‘It’s an intense subject, the future of Canada—there isn’t anything more important than that, and at a time of revolution, which I think we are in,’ [Bourrie] says . . . The story was there; he just needed to collate the pieces.”
Josh O’Kane

Photo: Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre by Mark Bourrie. Cover designed by Ingrid Paulson.

Toronto Star

Bestsellers Lists: #3 on the Canadian Nonfiction list, and #7 on the Original Nonfiction list.

Interview with Mark Bourrie and Stephen Maher, excerpted:

Stephen Maher: One of the pleasures of your book is the attention it pays to the social and economic forces Poilievre has harnessed. You argue persuasively that Trudeau let Poilievre become a champion for the working class by neglecting their concerns and failing to communicate. But every incumbent government around the world had a similar crisis. Was it really Trudeau’s failure, or was it just that the situation created an opening for a person such as Poilievre?

Mark Bourrie: I think it’s a systemic failure among centrists, people on the left and even the union movement to maintain a good, strong relationship with shop floors. And we saw that folks realized there was this great big working-class vote out there that wasn’t being tended to. And the Liberals, after the first year of COVID, could not communicate with anybody. They were just so disconnected. Canadian conservatives went to the United States and learned this stuff, but it was also something that former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson was able to pick up on. It’s something that the Brexiteers were able to pick up on, as well as the AFD in Germany.

Winnipeg Free Press

“Despite [the rush to print], the work never seems rushed. It is lengthy and historically detailed while relying on media, secondary sources and parliamentary debates.”
—Christopher Adams

The Tyee

“This book is a phenomenal effort, carefully researched and nicely written. Ripper should be widely read by everyone who cares about the value of casting an informed vote on April 28.”
—Michael Harris

Hill Times

“Every Liberal in their war room, every journalist covering the campaign and—should he win—every stakeholder doing business with an eventual Poilievre government owes it to themselves to read Bourrie’s Ripper so that they can have a clear picture of who Poilievre is, how he came to be, and how that past is almost certain to shape his decision-making going forward.”
—Jamie Carroll

CBC Windsor Morning

 

 

 

 

 

Cult MTL

“The page-turner is crack for political junkies.”
—Toula Drimonis

NB Media Co-op

“Mark Bourrie’s new book is a detailed and surgical examination of the man who could be Canada’s next prime minister.”
—Gerry McAlister

UnHerd

“In a scathing but comprehensive recent biography, Ripper: The Making of Pierre Poilievre, the historian Mark Bourrie points out that his [Poilievre’s] thinking on most subjects has not advanced much since adolescence.”
—Michael Ledger-Lomas

Canuckleheads Podcast

That Shakespearean Rag

“By positioning Poilievre in the context of the global social and economic cleavages that permitted him him to attain power, Bourrie transcends a simple biography and creates a snapshot of our riven historical moment, one that should prove illuminating for anyone looking around in abject confusion and wondering how we got to this particular point.”
—Steven W. Beattie

Ken McGoogan

Ripper has no business being so detailed and wide-ranging, so authoritative and convincing, so brilliantly analytical and colourfully entertaining.”

On Substack:

“Bourrie writes an honest and comprehensive account of Poilievre’s and offers a look at where he might take the country. The book is no hagiography, but nor is it a hatchet job (a lesser author might have been less disciplined). It’s a fitting, if disconcerting, election primer.”
—David Moscrop

“His [Mark Bourrie’s] latest book RIPPER isn’t just a biography—it’s a field guide to fascism wrapped in a Canadian flag soaked in Axe body spray.”
—Dean Blundell

“[Ripper] is far from a hatchet job. Bourrie appreciates Poilievre’s cunning and instinct for the jugular—he just doesn’t like him too much.”
—Ethan Phillips, Oversight

“Bourrie’s critical of Poilievre . . . But he reflects on Poilievre’s strengths and weaknesses, informed by close observation of the Conservative leader’s entire career.”
—Paul Wells

“Bourrie’s style is accessible, the prose is clear and sparse . . . Bourrie’s dry wit brings a chuckle now and then.”
—Margaret Shkimba

“[E]xcellent instant bestseller.”
—Rose Simpson, Rose’s Cantina

Media Hits: THE PASSENGER SEAT, DARK LIKE UNDER, ON BOOK BANNING, and more!

IN THE NEWS!

THE PASSENGER SEAT

The Passenger Seat by Vijay Khurana was reviewed in the New York Times! The review was published online on March 2, and can be read here.

Reviewer Teddy Wayne calls it,

“Unsettling and powerful . . . If the inciting episode reads as an overdetermined proof of male one-upmanship, Khurana’s execution of it is nevertheless gripping.”

Vijay Khurana was also interviewed on the ABA’s Indies Introduce podcast interview series, which spotlights debut authors. The episode was posted on Mar 4, and can be listened to here.

Grab The Passenger Seat here!

ON BOOK BANNING

On Book Banning by Ira Wells was excerpted in The Walrus on March 2, which can be read here.

On Book Banning was also reviewed in the Winnipeg Free Press. The review was posted on March 1, and can be read here.

Matt Henderson writes,

“A concise, exquisite, and tidy inquiry into our common desire to protect against the other. Wells serves up a masterful and provocative treatise about the nature of free speech and the power of the written word.”

Get On Book Banning here!

DARK LIKE UNDER

Dark Like Under by Alice Chadwick was reviewed in the Observer on March 2. The review is available to read online here.

Miriam Balanescu writes,

“Chadwick’s cast of children, on the precipice of adulthood, are caught in the crosshairs of adult politics . . . In the refraction of their various viewpoints, Chadwick is adept at finding the lesser tragedies bursting at the seams, amounting to a clever and compassionate debut.”

Preorder Dark Like Under here!

HEAVEN AND HELL

Jón Kalman Stefánsson, author of Heaven and Hell, was interviewed on the Across the Pond podcast about the book. The episode was posted on March 4, and you can listen to it in full here.

Grab Heaven and Hell here!

Media Hits: THE NOTEBOOK, A WAY TO BE HAPPY, MAY OUR JOY ENDURE, and more!

IN THE NEWS!

THE NOTEBOOK

The Notebook by Roland Allen (Sep 3, 2024) was excerpted in Lit Hub on September 9. You can check out the excerpt, “Paper Trail: On the Cross-Cultural Evolution of the Notebook” here.

Roland Allen was interviewed by Piya Chattopadhyay for CBC Sunday Magazine. The interview was posted on September 8, and you can check it out in full here.

Grab The Notebook here!

A WAY TO BE HAPPY

A Way to Be Happy by Caroline Adderson (Sep 10, 2024) has been longlisted for the Giller Prize, and is showing up on a number of lists! Publishers Weekly (Sep 5), CBC Books (Sep 4), and Quill & Quire (Sep 4) have all posted about the longlist.

A Way to Be Happy was also highlighted in the Georgia Straight as one of the five books on the Giller longlist by BC authors. You can check out that article here.

A Way to Be Happy was reviewed in the BC Review on September 4. You can read the full review online here.

Reviewer Bill Paul writes,

“For each story, Adderson expertly develops a detailed setting . . . [and] the author carefully constructs vivid characters from every walk of life. Each one of them making their way to some undetermined fate.”

Grab A Way to Be Happy here!

MAY OUR JOY ENDURE

May Our Joy Endure by Kev Lambert, translated by Donald Winkler (Sep 3, 2024), was mentioned in the New York Times in an interview with writer Garth Greenwell. The article was published online on September 5, and you can read the it here.

Kev Lambert was interviewed by Steven W. Beattie about May Our Joy Endure for Quill and Quire, published online on September 5, 2024. You can read the full interview here.

Lambert says in the interview,

“I wanted to challenge the idea that humanizing the person you critique is giving them credit. We hear this sometimes in political or media circles. But I think it’s a fake or a wrong idea . . . I’m starting to think that we should try to have empathy. Which doesn’t mean stop criticizing or saying everything’s fine because we have empathy. But I think it gives you an understanding of humans that is more accurate and more useful for political engagement.”

May Our Joy Endure was listed as one of The Walrus‘s “Best Books of Fall 2024.” The article was published online on September 4, 2024, and you can read it here.

Contributor Michelle Cyca writes,

“Who hasn’t wished a little divine retribution upon the ultrarich for all their sins? Kevin Lambert’s third novel, nimbly translated by Donald Winkler, is an icy, cerebral social novel . . . showcasing Lambert’s gimlet eye for the delusions and designer preferences of the 1 percent.”

May Our Joy Endure also appeared on the Daily Kos‘s list of “Contemporary Fiction Views: A new book season is about to begin,” posted online September 3. You can check out the full article here.

Grab May Our Joy Endure here!

THE PAGES OF THE SEA

The Pages of the Sea by Anne Hawk (Sep 17, 2024) was included in the Toronto Star‘s list of “25 books worthy of a place at the top of your to-read pile.” The list was published on September 1, 2024, and you can view it here.

Get Pages of the Sea here!

UTOPIAN GENERATION

The Utopian Generation by Pepetela, translated by David Brookshaw (Aug 13, 2024), was reviewed in the Literary Review of Canada. The review will appear in print in their October issue.

The LRC writes,

“A classic post-colonial text . . . This sweeping novel, which moves in roughly ten-year increments from 1961 to 1991, tells the steadily absorbing story of ‘how a generation embarks on a glorious struggle for independence and then destroys itself.'”

Get The Utopian Generation here!

CROSSES IN THE SKY

Crosses in the Sky: Jean de Brébeuf and the Destruction of Huronia by Mark Bourrie (May 21, 2024) was reviewed in The Millstone on August 29. Read the full review here.

Edith Cody-Rice writes,

“[A] fascinating and engrossing tale . . . a meticulously researched book . . . It told me, on nearly every page, something I did not know about the history of this province, of the lives lived here in the 17th century.”

Crosses in the Sky was also mentioned in an interview between actress & director Kaniehtiio Horn and interviewer Jim Slotek in Original Cin, posted on September 5. Check out the article here.

Grab Crosses in the Sky here!

CASE STUDY

Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet was included in the Globe and Mail‘s list of “Books we’re reading and loving in September.” The list was published on September 5, and you can check it out here.

Ian Brown writes,

“Graeme Macrae Burnet’s Case Study (longlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize) is the best type of novel: the sharply crafted, deeply intelligent but compulsively readable kind . . . As soon as you stop reading, you’ll want to read it again.”

Get Case Study here!

Preorder Burnet’s forthcoming book, A Case of Matricide, here!

Media Hits & Awards: ON CLASS, MAY OUR JOY ENDURE, THE NOTEBOOK, and more!

IN THE NEWS!

MAY OUR JOY ENDURE

May Our Joy Endure by Kevin Lambert, translated by Donald Winkler (Sep 3, 2024), appeared on Lit Hub‘s list of “27 new books out today.” The list was published on September 3, and you can check it out here.

The list features Heather O’Neill’s blurb:

“Baroque and philosophical, May Our Joy Endure captures the sensibilities and excesses of the elite. A novel about the housing crisis told from the perspective of those causing it . . . Lambert’s writing is lyrical and rapturous. In this book, he proves himself a satirical and whimsical Robespierre, hailing from small town Quebec.”

May Our Joy Endure also featured on All Lit Up‘s list of “Book Recommendations to follow The Rage Letters.” The article was posted on August 28, and you can read it here.

Grab May Our Joy Endure here!

THE NOTEBOOK

The Notebook by Roland Allen (Sep 3, 2024) was excerpted in The Walrus. The excerpt, titled “Moleskine Mania: How a Notebook Conquered the Digital Era,” was published online on August 30, and you can read it in full here.

Roland Allen contributed a feature to the Globe and Mail, which published online on August 30. You can check out the article, “In a world of screens, the humble notebook remains the best way to learn,” here.

The Notebook was also reviewed in Angelus News on August 30. You can read the full review here.

Reviewer Heather King writes,

“[The Notebook] celebrates the age-old practice of writing things down—numbers, images, thoughts, dreams—and charts the evolution of this handy, humble little item that many of us consider indispensable.”

Grab The Notebook here!

THE FUTURE

The Future by Catherine Leroux, translated by Susan Ouriou (Sep 5, 2023) was featured on CBC Books’ list, “These 14 writers recently won some of Canada’s biggest literary awards.” The list, which highlighted The Future‘s 2024 Canada Reads win and Carol Shields Prize longlisting, was posted on August 30, and you can read it here.

Grab The Future here!

THE PAGES OF THE SEA

The Pages of the Sea by Anne Hawk (Sep 17, 2024) appeared on Toronto.com’s list of “25 books worthy of a place at the top of your to-read pile.” The list was posted on September 1, and you can read it in full here.

Grab The Pages of the Sea here!

CROSSES IN THE SKY

Crosses in the Sky: Jean de Brébeuf and the Destruction of Huronia by Mark Bourrie (May 21, 2024) was featured on 49th Shelf‘s list of recommendations, “Grappling With History.” The article was posted on August 26, and you can check it out here.

Marianne K. Miller writes,

“Mark Bourrie tackles the mythology around the Jesuit missionary priest, Jean de Brebeuf. It is a different story than the one you thought you knew.”

Get Crosses in the Sky here!

HELLO, HORSE

Hello, Horse by Richard Kelly Kemick (Aug 6, 2024) was reviewed in Everything Zoomer! The review was posted online on August 15, and you can read it here.

Everything Zoomer writes,

“The year 2024 has Richard Kelly Kemick, whose wild imagination and fresh insights cast a spell in Hello, Horse; every entrancing story casts off in a different direction, with a genuine ‘wait? what?!’ moment you did not see coming . . . Kemick, a poet and playwright and National Magazine Award gold medal-winner, is one to watch.”

Grab Hello, Horse here!

AWARDS NEWS!

ON CLASS

We’re thrilled to share that On Class by Deborah Dundas is a nominee for the 2024 Heritage Toronto Book Award. The nominees were announced on September 3, 2024, and you can check out the full list here.

The Heritage Toronto Book Award highlights the breadth and depth of Toronto’s heritage, covering topics from music history, to public infrastructure, to immigration and multiculturalism. The award ceremony will take place on Monday, October 28, 2024 at The Carlu (444 Yonge Street).

Grab a copy of On Class here!

Media Hits: THE NOTEBOOK, A CASE OF MATRICIDE, THE UTOPIAN GENERATION, and more!

IN THE NEWS!

THE NOTEBOOK

The Notebook by Roland Allen (Sep 3, 2024) was reviewed in the Wall Street Journal! The article was published online on August 23, and is available to read here.

Reviewer Meghan Cox Gurdon writes,

“Bold and thrilling . . . informative and uplifting, The Notebook may leave you feeling that you should chuck away your smartphone, pick up a nice, clean journal and start jotting.”

The Notebook was featured in Publishers Weekly‘s list of “Eight New Books Indie Booksellers Want You to Read.” The list was posted on August 16, and you can check it out here.

Phoenix Books book buyer Laurel Rhame wrote,

“I love obscure, strange, or hyper-focused histories, and this is the first history of the notebook—a tool that completely changed humanity. I can already tell this is going to be my big gift book for the holiday season. It’s perfect for the writers, artists, or engineers in your life. And of course for the history buffs.”

The Notebook also appeared on Kirkus Reviews‘ list, “150 Most Anticipated Books of the Fall.” The article was posted online on August 20, and you can read it here.

Grab The Notebook here!

 

THE UTOPIAN GENERATION

The Utopian Generation by Pepetela, translated by David Brookshaw (Aug 12, 2024), was featured in The African Report. The review and interview with Pepetela was published online on August 12, and you can read it here.

Reviewer Olivia Snaije calls it:

“A groundbreaking book . . . In The Utopian Generation, perhaps closest to [Pepetela’s] personal experience, the characters fight for the liberation of Angola with the hope of building an egalitarian society. Through the individual characters and the choices they make, the reader makes a 30-year journey through the complexity of decolonisation in Angola.”

The Utopian Generation was also featured on The Daily Kos‘s list of “Contemporary Fiction Views: It’s new books day!” The list was posted on August 13, and you can check it out here.

Grab The Utopian Generation here.

 

A CASE OF MATRICIDE

A Case of Matricide by Graeme Macrae Burnet (Nov 12, 2024) was reviewed in Publishers Weekly. The review was published online on August 16, and is available to read here.

Publishers Weekly writes,

“[A Case of Matricide] serves up a tantalizing blend of psychological thrills and small-town life . . . a convincing depiction of bureaucratic and provincial rot. Fans of the series will be pleased.”

Order A Case of Matricide here!

SORRY ABOUT THE FIRE

Sorry About the Fire by Colleen Coco Collins (Apr 2, 2024) was reviewed in the Literary Review of Canada. The review was published in their September print issue.

The LRC writes,

Sorry About the Fire introduces readers to an intrepid thinker and original writer who seems to relish nature as much as her Irish, French, and Odawa heritage. If Collins can teach readers just one thing, surely it’s a sense of surprise, so that we too might say, ‘I’m up in my head / tread, tread, tread, tread, / and you can’t hold a candle to this.'”

Get Sorry About the Fire here!

BURN MAN

Mark Anthony Jarman, author of Burn Man: Selected Stories (Nov 21 2023), was interviewed on the podcast Craftwork. The episode aired on August 8, and you can listen to the conversation in full here.

Grab Burn Man here!

ON CLASS

Deborah Dundas, author of On Class (May 9, 2023), was interviewed by Nathan Whitlock on the podcast What Happened Next: a podcast about newish books. The episode aired on August 19, and you can listen to it here.

Grab On Class here!

THE FULL-MOON WHALING CHRONICLES

The Full-Moon Whaling Chronicles by Jason Guriel (Aug 1, 2023) appeared in 49th Shelf‘s list “Astonish and Renew: Books With a Sense of Play.” The list was posted on August 22, and you can check it out here.

Rod Moody-Corbett calls it:

“[A] brilliant second novel . . . expansive and epic and intellectually enduring.”

Get The Full-Moon Whaling Chronicles here!

Check out the companion novel, Forgotten Work, here!

Media Hits: EDUCATION OF AUBREY MCKEE, HOLLOW BEAST, COCKTAIL, and more!

IN THE NEWS!

THE EDUCATION OF AUBREY MCKEE

Happy pub week! Alex Pugsley, author of The Education of Aubrey McKee (May 7, 2024) was interviewed by Jason Jeffries for the Bookin podcast. The interview was published on May 6, 2024. You can listen to the full episode here.

In the interview, Jason Jeffries called Education:

“The best book of 2024 period.”

Get The Education of Aubrey McKee here!

Check out the first book, Aubrey McKee, here!

THE HOLLOW BEAST

The Hollow Beast by Christophe Bernard, translated by Lazer Lederhendler (Apr 2, 2024) received a starred review in Quill & Quire! The review was published online on May 8, 2024. Check out the review here.

Critic Cassandra Drudi writes:

“Bernard weaves a multicoloured, shimmering tapestry of the Gaspé . . . The many threads aren’t necessarily gathered into a neatly finished selvage by the time the reader gets to the end of the book, but the journey they have been taken on is so immersive, so grounded in a place and the characters that inhabit it, that it hardly matters.”

Author Christophe Bernard was interviewed on CBC All in a Weekend. The interview aired on May 5, 2024 and can be heard in full here.

Grab The Hollow Beast here!

COCKTAIL

Lisa Alward, author of Cocktail (Sep 12, 2023) was interviewed on CBC Information Morning for Fredericton! The interview aired on May 7, 2024, and you can listen to the full interview here.

Lisa Alward was also interviewed in The New Quarterly. The interview was published on May 9, 2024, and you can read the full interview here.

Cocktail was featured on CBC Books’ list of “14 Canadian short story collections to read for Short Story Month” on May 10, 2024! Check out the full list here.

Grab a Cocktail here!

 

CASE STUDY & DUCKS NEWBURYPORT

It’s a blast from the past: Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet and Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann were both featured on the Book Review’s Best Books Since 2000 in the New York Times! Check out the full list here.

Pick up Ducks Newburyport here!

Get Case Study here!

 

News & Awards: HOW TO BUILD A BOAT, ON COMMUNITY, FULL-MOON WHALING CHRONICLES, and more!

IN THE NEWS!

THE FULL-MOON WHALING CHRONICLES

The Full-Moon Whaling Chronicles by Jason Guriel (August 1, 2023) has been reviewed in the Toronto Star by Michael Coren. The review was published online on July 29, 2023. You can read the full review here.

Michael Coren writes,

“[T]he book that’s going to get under your skin this summer … dizzyingly interesting … there is something utterly new and exciting here.”

The Full-Moon Whaling Chronicles has also been reviewed in Booklist. The review was published online on July 28, 2023. You can read the full review here.

Sal A. Joyce calls it:

“A story with heart, intrigue, and mystery … Lovers of science fiction will find this unlike anything they’ve read before.”

The Full-Moon Whaling Chronicles has been featured in Lit Hub and Book Riot. Both articles were published on August 1, 2023.

Read Lit Hub’s “27 New Books Out Today” list here and Book Riot’s “New Releases” list here.

Get The Full-Moon Whaling Chronicles here!

HOW TO BUILD A BOAT

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney (November 7, 2023) has been longlisted for The Booker Prize 2023! The longlist was announced this morning, August 1, 2023. You can read the full announcement here.

The Booker jury writes:

“The interweaving stories of Jamie, a teenage boy trying to make sense of the world, and Tess, a teacher at his school, make up this humorous and insightful novel about family and the need for connection. Feeney has written an absorbing coming-of-age story which also explores the restrictions of class and education in a small community. A complex and genuinely moving novel.”

How to Build a Boat by Elaine Feeney was also reviewed in the Irish Times and RTE Ireland. Both articles were published online on July 22, 2023.

Irish Times calls it a “beautiful meditation on love,” while RTE Ireland calls it a “beautifully-written, tenderhearted story.”

Order How to Build a Boat here!

ON COMMUNITY

On Community by Casey Plett (November 7, 2023) has been featured in Quill and Quire’s 2023 Fall Nonfiction Preview. The article was published online on August 2, 2023.

You can read the preview here.

Order On Community here!

COCKTAIL

Cocktail by Lisa Alward (September 12, 2023) has been reviewed in The Miramichi Reader. The review was published online on August 1, 2023. You can read the full review here.

Lucy Black writes,

“This collection of twelve pristine short stories might best be described as small snapshots of lives shadowed by disquietude. The writing is crisp, accomplished and assured, and the characters are vividly and sympathetically drawn, as they experience the emotional convolutions of individuals struggling between that which they believe to be right and that which they desire.”

Order Cocktail here!

THE ART OF LIBROMANCY

The Art of Libromancy by Josh Cook (August 22, 2023) has been featured in the Chicago Review of Books as one of their “12 Must Read Books of August.” The article was published online on August 1, 2023. You can read the full article here.

Michael Welch calls it

“A necessarily critical look at the practice of connecting readers with their next book in the age of monopolization and censorship.”

Order The Art of Libromancy here!

THE COUNTRY OF TOO

The Country of Toó by Rodrigo Rey Rosa, translated by Stephen Henighan (July 11, 2023) has been reviewed in The Complete Review. The review was published online on July 29, 2023. You can read the full review here.

MA Orthofer calls it

“An appealing panorama of both the country and the different cultures and forces—from Mayan to global-capitalist—at work in it.”

Get The Country of Toó here!

SLEEP IS NOW A FOREIGN COUNTRY & OFF THE RECORD

Sleep is Now a Foreign Country by Mike Barnes (November 7, 2023) and Off the Record edited by John Metcalf (November 14, 2023) were both featured in Quill and Quire’s 2023 Fall Preview: Poetry, Memoir, and Biography. The article was published online on July 26, 2023. You can read the full article here.

Order Sleep is Now a Foreign Country here!

Order Off the Record here!

April Media Hits!

IN THE NEWS!

ALL THINGS MOVE

All Things Move: Learning to Look in the Sistine Chapel by Jeannie Marshall (April 4, 2023) was reviewed by Randy Boyagoda on CBC’s The Next Chapter! The episode was posted on April 21, and is available to listen to here.

All Things Move was also reviewed in Ploughshares on April 10, the Winnipeg Free Press on April 8, and the Midwest Book Review on April 20..

In the Ploughshares review (here), Holly M. Wendt writes:

“Marshall’s narrative doesn’t arrive at tidy religious revelation or optimistic conversion; what takes center stage is simply the willingness to examine her own story from the edges and move inward: from the threads of her mother’s complicated faith and with attention to the moments in her life that allowed her to stand here, in this artistic and historical center.”

In the Winnipeg Free Press review (here), Alison Gillmor writes:

All Things Move is an extended essay on how we experience art. […] evocative and illuminating, a moving meditation on the human impulse both to create art and to experience its power.”

In the Midwest Book Review (here), Helen Dumont calls the book:

“Informative, insightful, perceptive, thought-provoking.”

Additionally, Jeannie Marshall wrote a special for the Globe and Mail, “What’s so great about the Sistine Chapel?” published on April 7. You can read Marshall’s piece here.

Grab your copy of All Things Move here.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DROWNING

Instructions for the Drowning by Steven Heighton (April 18, 2023) has been reviewed in the Globe and Mail and the Toronto Star. Both reviews were published online on April 20, 2023.

David Moscrop writes, in the Globe and Mail:

“To create so many small worlds and characters that feel so real and populate is an act of transcendence. To do it well is to offer a gift. In Instructions, the late Steven Heighton has managed both, and the gift is ours.”

Read the full review here.

Robert J Wiersema writes, in the Toronto Star:

“As these stories demonstrate, human life is a means of exploration and celebration, threaded through with darkness and loss. In the midst of death, Heighton seems to say, we are in life: it should be savoured.”

Read the full review here.

Instructions for the Drowning was also reviewed in the Literary Review of Canada by Kyle Wyatt. The review was published online on April 18, 2023. You can read the review online here.

Kyle Wyatt writes:

“If there is any justice in this literary world, Steven Heighton’s ‘Professions of Love,’ the fifth of the eleven stories in Instructions for the Drowning, will soon 7nd itself sitting side by side with ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ on syllabuses everywhere. Like Heighton’s final collection as a whole, it is wonderful.”

Instructions for the Drowning was excerpted in Lit Hub on April 19, 2023, and Open Book on April 13, 2023. Read the Lit Hub excerpt here and Open Book here.

Get your copy of Instructions for the Drowning here!

WAY TO GO

Way to Go by Richard Sanger (April 4, 2023) has been reviewed in The Miramichi Reader by Heidi Greco. The review was published online on April 17, 2023. You can read the review here.

Greco calls the collection

“remarkable […] We should all be so blessed (and brave) to leave such a farewell as Sanger has.”

Get your copy of Way to Go here.

PASCAL’S FIRE

Pascal’s Fire by Kristina Bresnen (April 4, 2023) has been reviewed in The Miramichi Reader. The review was published online on April 10, 2023. You can read the full review here.

In the review, Michael Greenstein writes:

“Speaking in tongues, Bresnen makes an impressive name for herself in this debut colloquy; she notices, and should be noticed.”

Get your copy of Pascal’s Fire here.

ON WRITING AND FAILURE

On Writing and Failure by Stephen Marche (February 14, 2023) has been reviewed in Compulsive Reader. The review was published online on April 9, 2023. Read the full article here.

Nick Harvey writes,

On Writing and Failure is less about writing and more about perseverance. Reading it reminded me of all the things I thought impossible before I tried them and now find impossible to live without. Writing is one of those things.”

Get your copy of On Writing and Failure here.

 

Media Round-up

IN THE NEWS

ON WRITING AND FAILURE

On Writing and Failure (February 14, 2023) by Stephen Marche has been reviewed in the the Washington Post. The article was published online on March 6, 2023. Read the full article here.

Mark Athitakis writes,

In On Writing and Failure, Marche attempts to reset the way we talk about such struggles. He stomps Freytag’s Pyramid flat. […] Marche’s book isn’t a pep talk, but it’s not intended to cut you off at the knees. His sole prescription is stubbornness. “You have to write.”‘

On Writing and Failure was also reviewed by John Delacourt in Policy Magazine. The review was published online on March 7, 2023.  You can read the full review here.

John Delacourt writes, for Policy,

On Writing and Failure is a slim little truth bomb I wish had been written when I first harboured notions of writing to be published.”

Stephen Marche, author of On Writing and Failure has been interviewed by Aryeh Cohen-Wade on the Culturally Determined podcast. The podcast episode was published online on March 7, 2023. Listen to the full episode here.

Marche was also interviewed on CKLW AM 800 about his event on March 8, 2023. Listen to the full AM 800 interview here.

Grab your copy of On Writing and Failure here.

BIG MEN FEAR ME

Mark Bourrie author of Big Men Fear Me (October 18, 2022) has been interviewed on CBC Ideas. The episode aired on March 6, 2023.

Check out the full episode here.

Grab your copy of Big Men Fear Me here.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR THE DROWNING

Instructions for the Drowning by Steven Heighton (April 18, 2023) has been reviewed in FreeFall Magazine. The review will be published in their spring 2023 print edition.

Skylar Kay writes,

“Heighton will go down as one of the brightest stars in Canadian literary history.”

Instructions for the Drowning by Steven Heighton has been reviewed in The Walrus. The review was published online on March 6, 2023. You can read the full review here.

Elisabeth de Mariafi writes,

“In Instructions for the Drowning, however, he uses his poet’s precision, his depth as a novelist, and his intimacy as a memoirist to give us a glimpse of the closure he may have hoped for—for himself, for his characters, and also for his readers.”

Order your copy of Instructions for the Drowning here.

SHIMMER

Shimmer by Alex Pugsley (May 17, 2022) was reviewed in The Colorado Sun. The review was published online on March 5, 2023. Read the full review here.

The review quotes Jason Jefferies,

“Alex Pugsley is one of our greatest living writers. He is like a Canadian James Joyce, only if James Joyce grew up hanging out in the parking lots of rundown 7-Elevens and pow-wowing on the grimy floors of divey rock & roll clubs.”

Grab your copy of Shimmer here.

ON BROWSING

On Browsing by Jason Guriel has been reviewed in Literary Matters. The review was published online on March 6, 2023. You can read the full review here.

Vertacnik writes,

“We need the voices of those like Guriel in our midst […] My copy is already a well-thumbed and annotated reminder of the advantages (to quote Guriel’s fellow Canadian Marshall McLuan) of ‘marching backwards into the future.'”

Get your copy of On Browsing here.

ORDINARY WONDER TALES

Emily Urquhart, author of Ordinary Wonder Tales (November 1, 2022), and this year’s nonfiction judge for the Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, has been interviewed for the Kobo blog! The interview was published online on March 10, 2023.

Read the full interview here.

Grab your copy of Ordinary Wonder Tales here.

 

ON WRITING AND FAILURE, TRY NOT TO BE STRANGE, DANTE’S INDIANA: Reviews and Interviews!

IN THE NEWS!

ON WRITING AND FAILURE

On Writing and Failure (February 14, 2023) by Stephen Marche has been reviewed in the Globe and Mail. The review was published online on February 23, 2023. You can read the full review here.

Reviewer Sandra Martin writes,

“While writing starts with one person, an empty page and an urge to say something, it ends with another person reading your words, digesting them and making a judgment. […] That’s why I’m keeping On Writing and Failure on my desk—for encouragement—which I am guessing is Marche’s true purpose in writing the book.”

On Writing and Failure by Stephen Marche has been excerpted in The Atlantic. The excerpt was published online on February 21, 2023. You can read the full excerpt here.

Stephen Marche has been interviewed on The Times Literary Supplement podcast and The Commentary podcast. Both aired on February 16, 2023. You can listen to the full TLS podcast episode here, and the full episode of The Commentary here.

Stephen Marche has also been interviewed by Tara Henley in her newsletter Lean Out with Tara Henley. The interview was published online on February 19, 2023. Read the full interview here.

During the interview, Marche says,

“I think what I find very powerful is those feelings of connection that you get across time and space, that really only writing can provide. […] That cosmopolitanism in time and space and that web of connections—to even be a small part of that is very powerful.”

Grab your copy of On Writing and Failure here!

TRY NOT TO BE STRANGE

Try Not to Be Strange by Michael Hingston (September 13, 2022) has been reviewed in Alberta Views. The review appears in the March 2023 print edition.

Megan Clark writes:

Try Not to Be Strange takes on the magnificent feat of writing the history of a persistent and yet barely extant literary kingdom. […] The charm of the book, really, is the earnestness with which Hingston approaches the story.”

Get your copy of Try Not to Be Strange here!

DANTE’S INDIANA

Dante’s Indiana by Randy Boyagoda (September 2021) has been reviewed in America Magazine. The review was published on February 15, 2023. Read the full review here.

Gregory Wolfe writes:

“Using the literary framework of Dante’s three-part epic poem ‘The Divine Comedy’ as a lens through which to cast a sardonic eye on the present moment is hardly a new idea, but it has proven to be a durable one.”

Grab your copy of Dante’s Indiana here!

Check out the first book, Original Prin, here!