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Media Hits: QUERELLE OF ROBERVAL, BIG MEN FEAR ME, ON BROWSING, THE POWER OF STORY, and more!

IN THE NEWS!

QUERELLE OF ROBERVAL

Querelle of Roberval (August 2, 2022) by Kevin Lambert translated by Donald Winkler was reviewed at the Globe and Mail. The review was published online on October 4, 2022. Read the whole review here.

Reviewer Ian McGillis writes,

“Lambert fully earns the company of his invoked forebears—Genet the teller of inconvenient truths, and the ancient Greeks, in whose work tragedy unfolds with the inexorability of a change in the seasons … Lambert’s prose, seamlessly rendered in English by Donald Winkler, meets all the demands of an ambitiously structured work. His default mode is a spare voice describing extreme things with a reined-in economy. But there are other feathers in his bow. With equal facility he can go full-on granular … or big-picture poetic, taking off on flights of numinous lyricism.”

Querelle of Roberval was reviewed by The Fiddlehead. The review was published online on October 7, 2022. You can read the whole review here.

Reviewer thom vernon writes,

“unabashedly thrusts and skewers its way to its end … Lambert’s Querelle of Roberval is far more than a titillating romp sniffing around the blades, bar stools, and crotches of beleaguered labour; it is a blistering hunt for a liberation that may never come.”

Querelle of Roberval was also reviewed by the Consumed by Ink blog on October 7, 2022! You can read the review here.

Reviewer Naomi McKinnon, who discusses Querelle alongside Lambert’s first novel, You Will Love What You Have Killed, writes,

“I recommend both of these books to those of you who dare … How to explain that something shocking and horrifying can also be good?”

Querelle of Roberval was featured on the podcast Getting Lit with Linda. The episode aired on October 7, 2022. You can listen to the whole episode here.

Reviewer Linda Morra says that Lambert is

“in possession of a prodigious talent … something of a cross between Stephen King and Alice Munro. If these two had a child-writer, they’d spawn Lambert. The grisly viciousness and the explicit gore of the former, and the psychological savvy, depth of motive, and ironic tone of the latter … I had trouble both putting the book down and continuing to read as only a truly horrifying and well-written book would compel a reader to do … A dextrous hand, laying bare human impulses and tracing the mysteries of persons, institutions, and larger stories of which they’re all a part.”

Pick up your copy of Querelle of Roberval here!

CASE STUDY

Case Study by Graeme Macrae Burnet (November 1, 2022) has been reviewed by Shahina Piyarali in Shelf Awareness. Published online on October 3, 2022. Check out the review here.

Piyarali writes,

“Burnet’s deployment of multiple narrative structures, his finely tuned depiction of Braithwaite, and the fascinating revelations of the diarist result in an unforgettable story, one that will rattle readers long after its startling, disorientating ending.”

Grab your copy of Case Study here!

BIG MEN FEAR ME

Big Men Fear Me by Mark Bourrie (October 18, 2022) has been reviewed by John Ibbitson in the Globe and Mail. The review was published online on October 5, 2022. Read the full review here.

Ibbitson writes,

“Mark Bourrie has written a simply splendid book about George McCullagh, founding owner of The Globe and Mail, who dominated the worlds of politics and journalism in Ontario during the 1930s and 40s, but who has virtually been lost to memory. Bourrie’s book positively sings … [it] is thoroughly researched and the prose is clean and engaging … McCullagh deserves to be known … He made The Globe the dominant voice in English Canadian journalism. Bourrie’s biography does him full justice.”

Pick up your copy of Big Men Fear Me here!

ORDINARY WONDER TALES

Ordinary Wonder Tales by Emily Urquhart (November 1, 2022), has been reviewed by Joan Sullivan in The Telegram (SaltWire)! The review was published on October 7, 2022. Read the full review here.

Sullivan writes,

Ordinary Wonder Tales is so well-written, so full of enriching, unexpected connections, so captivating; a reader will be tempted to consume it in gulps, and then go back for seconds.”

Ordinary Wonder Tales was also reviewed in The Link! The review was published on October 12, 2022. Read the full review here.

Claire Helston-VanDuzer writes,

“Urquhart’s corrobation of legends to day-to-day life offers the same getaway and warmth that indulging in a supernatural world can. So, to all the retired fantasy lovers out there, please do yourself a favor and read this book … Ordinary Wonder Tales has opened my eyes to the ways that the mythical can allow opportunity for women to tell their own story in a forgiving environment. It has encouraged me to seek out other narratives that do the same.”

Order your copy of Ordinary Wonder Tales here!

THE POWER OF STORY

The Power of Story: On Truth, the Trickster, and New Fictions for a New Era by Harold R. Johnson (October 11, 2022) has been featured on CBC Books as one of their October reads. The list was published online on October 6, 2022. Check out the full list here.

CBC writes,

“In this posthumous work, Harold R. Johnson makes a case for how stories can shape and change our lives for the better if only we are willing to employ story as the world-building tool that it is.”

The Power of Story was featured in La Ronge Now. The article was published on October 11, 2022. Check out the full article here.

Derek Cornet writes,

“Harold illustrates how people can direct their potential to re-create and reform not only their own lives but the life everyone shares.”

The Power of Story has also been featured in The Saskatoon Star Phoenix. The article, which features an interview with Joan Johnson, was published on October 11, 2022. Check out the full article here.

Joan Johnson says, in the interview:

“Everything in The Power of Story is a culmination of Harold’s life, his experiences and his belief system.”

Pick up a copy of The Power of Story here!

ON BROWSING

On Browsing by Jason Guriel (October 4, 2022) has been reviewed at the Winnipeg Free Press. The review was published Oct 7, 2022. You can read the whole article here.

Reviewer Chris Smith writes,

“Browsing is many things: a lifestyle, a relaxation, a revelation if your search finds a long-sought book or a rare recording, and perhaps more importantly a soul-refreshing excursion in a world of instant online search-and-buy options….Guriel, a lifelong browser, wrote this booklet of essays while detained at home during the COVID pandemic and reduced to scrolling, without access to his beloved physical media and the combined sensations of holding a book in your hand while your brain processes the value of the words within it.”

Jason Guriel, author of On Browsing, was interviewed with City News Toronto at The Big Story podcast. The episode is called “What do we lose when our malls disappear?” Listen to the whole interview here.

“Browsing,” Jason says, “is a kind of aimlessness that widens; it doesn’t narrow.” When asked how a person can experience that lost feeling of browsing, Jason recommends “leaving your phone at home and setting out for a walk. Arrange to be truly by yourself for a while.”

Grab a copy of On Browsing here!

TRY NOT TO BE STRANGE

Try Not to Be Strange: The Curious History of the Kingdom of Redonda by Michael Hingston (September 13, 2022) has been reviewed by Michael Dirda in the Washington Post. The article was published on October 6, 2022. Check out the full review here.

Dirda writes,

“It’s a wonderfully entertaining book, an account of how its Canadian author grew fascinated with a literary jape, a kind of role-playing game or shared-world fantasy involving some of the most eccentric and some of the most famous writers of modern times.”

Pick up a copy of Try Not the Be Strange here!

MUSIC, LATE AND SOON

cover

Robyn Sarah‘s Music, Late and Soon (August 24, 2021) has been reviewed at the Miramichi Reader. The review was published on October 13, 2022. You can read the rest of the review here.

Reviewer Michael Greenstein writes,

“Part sonata, part symphony, far more than a memoir, Music, Late and Soon introduces a number of memorable characters worthy of a novel, and an array of orchestral instruments that modulate the prose, melodies, and personalities surrounding the author’s life”

Grab you copy of Music, Late and Soon here!

SHIMMER, THE DAY-BREAKERS, A FACTOTUM IN THE BOOK TRADE: Media Hits!

IN THE NEWS

SHIMMER

Shimmer (May 17, 2022) by Alex Pugsley has been reviewed by the Toronto Star! The review was posted online on May 26, 2022. You can read the full review here.

Reviewer Robert Wiersema writes,

“Looking at Shimmer as a whole, one is struck by Pugsley’s mastery of the short-story form, his ability to distil entire lives’ worth of meaning into a few short pages. He’s not just a writer to watch: he’s a writer to savour.”

Steven Beattie also reviewed the story ‘Ordinary Love Song’ from the collection on his blog, That Shakespearean Rag. You can read the full review here.

Beattie writes,

“His story proves that the digital mode of communication, while frequently castigated as impersonal and dehumanizing, can, in the right hands, carry with it strong emotional resonance.”

Get your copy of Shimmer here!

A FACTOTUM IN THE BOOK TRADE

A Factotum in the Book Trade by Marius Kociejowski (April 26, 2022) has been reviewed in the Times Literary Supplement. The article was published online May 25, 2022 and in print on May 27, 2022. You read the full review here.

Henry Hitchings writes,

“A bookseller for half a century, [Kociejowski] has encountered a great many strange and rare items. … Full of curious information … Kociejowski is eloquent about the magic of books, their bindings and associations.”

Get your copy of A Factotum in the Book Trade here!

THE DAY-BREAKERS

Michael Fraser, author of The Day-Breakers (April 5, 2022) was interviewed by Shauna Powers on CBC Saskatchewan Weekend. In the interview he discusses his collection of poems and the CBC Poetry Prize. The episode aired on May 22, 2022, and you can listen to the full interview here.

The Day-Breakers was reviewed by Melanie Brannagan Frederiksen in the Winnipeg Free Press. The review was published online on May 28, 2022. You can read the complete review here.

Frederiksen writes,

“Throughout the collection Fraser uses texture and rhythm to unsettling effect. […] line breaks interrupt the flow of accruing details to hold the reader in the moment of bodily vulnerability as long as possible.”

Get your copy of The Day-Breakers here!

 

THE DAY-BREAKERS, HAIL THE INVISIBLE WATCHMAN, POGUEMAHONE, THE SINGING FOREST, A FACTOTUM IN THE BOOK TRADE: Top Lists and Reviews!

THE DAY-BREAKERS

The Day-Breakers by Michael Fraser (April 5, 2022) has been featured on the spring reading list by CBC Books as one of “50 great books to read this season.” The list was published online on May 11, 2022. You can read the full list here.

The Day-Breakers was also reviewed by Barb Carey in The Toronto Star. The review was published online on April 28, 2022. You can read the full review here.

Carey writes:

“Michael Fraser brings history alive in his third collection, a stirring tribute to the Black soldiers who fought for the Union in the American Civil War, hundreds of whom were African Canadians. […] The language of the poems is terrific: a fresh, striking vernacular (glossary included) that’s both lyrical and gritty in its immediacy”

Get your copy of The Day-Breakers here!

HAIL, THE INVISIBLE WATCHMAN

Hail, the Invisible Watchman by Alexandra Oliver (April 5, 2022) was reviewed in the Los Angeles Review of Books! The review was published online on May 2, 2022. Read the full review here!

Maryann Corbett writes:

“They’re all here in her newest book, the formal and metrical pleasures that earned critical praise and prizes for Alexandra Oliver’s Meeting the Tormentors in Safeway and Let the Empire Down […] Hail, the Invisible Watchman is dark and tangled, even when it hooks the heartstrings and pulls.”

Alexandra Oliver was also interviewed by Sheryl MacKay on CBC North by Northwest! The interview was posted on May 1, 2022. You can listen to the interview here beginning at 4:20, with Alexandra reading at 12:30.

Get your copy of Hail, the Invisible Watchman here!

POGUEMAHONE

Poguemahone by Patrick McCabe (May 3, 2022) was reviewed by Sam Sacks in The Wall Street Journal. The review was published online on May 6, 2022. You can read the full review here.

Sam Sacks writes:

Poguemahone [is] an immense, audacious novel […] a volcanic spray of vernacular, Gaelic-infused memory fragments and character sketches.”

Poguemahone was also reviewed by Ian Mond in the print edition of Locus Mag and featured as part of their list of “New Books: 3 May 2022.” on May 3, 2022. Check it out here!

Ian Mond writes:

Poguemahone is a stunning novel, one of those exceedingly rare books that deserve to be described as a masterpiece.”

Poguemahone was reviewed by Keith Miller in Literary Review (UK). The review, “It Started with a Kiss” was published online on May 4, 2022. You can read the full piece here.

Keith Miller writes:

“I think McCabe is attempting something different from the finely tuned gothic chamber music of his earlier work: he’s aiming for a kind of polyphony. Characters aren’t quite sure who or even how many people they are at any given moment. […] the effect is one of alienation – not that the book isn’t a tremendous pleasure to read, albeit at times slightly uncomfortable. ‘Our national epic has yet to be written,’ all the young literary dudes opine in Ulysses. Poguemahone isn’t ‘about’ Ireland (though it is profoundly ‘about’ the Irish diaspora). But it is a particularly modern kind of epic.”

Patrick McCabe was also featured on Damian Barr’s Literary Salon Podcast on May 3, 2022. Lit Hub featured this podcast episode on May 4, 2022, and Poguemahone was listed on Book Riot as part of: “New Releases and More for May 3, 2022.”

Pick up your copy of Poguemahone here!

THE SINGING FOREST

The Singing Forest by Judith McCormack was recently reviewed in The Miramichi Reader! The article was published online on May 5, 2022. You can read the full review here.

Reviewer Michael Greenstein writes:

“McCormack revives the secret, hovering between what’s buried and what’s above ground, what sings into a surreal blend. The forest whispers to silence the screams. The children are curious, the reader is curious, and McCormack cares.

“A page-turner with substance, where troubled family trees testify, find new growth, and branch out.”

The Singing Forest was also recently reviewed by the Historical Novel Society. The review was posted online on May 2, 2022. You can read the full review here.

Reviewer Shauna McIntyre writes:

“Filled with beautiful sentences like “Strands of DNA sliding down an ancestral ladder,” this novel is worth the effort it takes to wade through the stream-of-consciousness sections.”

Order your copy of The Singing Forest here!

A FACTOTUM IN THE BOOK TRADE

A Factotum in the Book Trade by Marius Kociejowski (April 26, 2022) has been reviewed by Michael Dirda in The Washington Post. The article, “What bookstores and the literary life contribute to … life” was published online today, May 4, 2022. Check out the full article here.

Dirda writes:

“Kociejowski opens his enthralling memoir, A Factotum in the Book Trade, by observing that bookstores have begun to follow record stores into nonexistence. “With every shop that closes so, too, goes still more of the serendipity that feeds the human spirit.” While there may be “infinitely more choice” in buying from online dealers, “to be spoiled for choice extinguishes desire.” As he says, “I want dirt; I want chaos; I want, above all, mystery. I want to be able to step into a place and have the sense that there I’ll find a book, as yet unknown to me, which to some degree will change my life.”

An accomplished poet and beguiling essayist (try The Pebble Chance), Kociejowski has also enjoyed a long-standing career with various London antiquarian bookshops […] Over the years, Kociejowski came to be friends with poet and translator Christopher Middleton, travel writer Bruce Chatwin, “arguably the greatest prose stylist of his generation,” and the Spanish novelist Javier Marías, who as the reigning monarch of the joke Kingdom of Redonda, appointed him poet laureate in English of that tiny uninhabited island.”

Marius Kociejowski has been featured on the podcast by AbeBooks, Behind the Bookshelves, hosted by Richard Davies. In the episode, they discuss Kociejowski’s A Factotum in the Book Trade (April 26, 2022). The episode was published online on May 18, 2022. You can listen to the full episode here.

In the episode, Kociejowski says:

“The general secondhand bookshop is rapidly becoming a thing of the past […] Whereas I have always maintained that the soul of the trade is in bookshops. I think something happens in shops. Something magical.”

Get your copy of A Factotum in the Book Trade here!

HOUSEHOLDERS, ON THE ORIGIN, 100 MILES OF BASEBALL, MURDER ON THE INSIDE and BUSH RUNNER: New Reviews!

IN THE NEWS!

HOUSEHOLDERS

Householders coverKate Cayley’s Householders (September 14, 2021) received an excellent review in Lavender Magazine! The review was published on September 27, both print and digitally. You can read the review on the website here.

Reviewer E. B Boatner wrote,

“You don’t have to come from a foreign country to be a stranger in your land. Cayley’s haunting short stories weave together stealthily, gentle until the cosh strikes your skull … Brutally, beautifully lyrical.”

Householders also received a rave review in ZYZZYVA! The review was published today on September 29. You can read the review on the website here.

Reviewer Peter Schlachte wrote,

“Full of startling turns of phrase and evocative descriptions … Cayley’s background as a poet—she has published two collections of poetry—shines … With Householders, Cayley has envisioned a world that mirrors our own like a distorted funhouse—a place where the moral and physical stakes are heightened, where emotional bonds run deeply, and where something menacing is often lurking. It’s a frightening world, but it makes for a compelling story collection, as good to tear through for the narrative as it is to savor (and savor again) for the language.”

And don’t forget! Tonight, on September 29 at 7 PM EDT, tune in for Householders’ virtual book launch! This is a double book launch with David Huebert’s Chemical Valley (October 19, 2021). Kate Cayley and David Huebert will be joined in conversation by author Sofi Papamarko. We’ll be streaming live on Facebook & YouTube. Co-hosted by Another Story Bookshop (Toronto, ON), and Bookmark (Halifax, NS). Tune in for the launch here.

Grab your copy of Householders here!

 

ON THE ORIGIN OF THE DEADLIEST PANDEMIC IN 100 YEARSOn the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years cover

An excerpt from On the Origin of the Deadliest Pandemic in 100 Years: An Investigation (August 31, 2021) by Elaine Dewar, has been published in Independent Science. The excerpt was published online on September 27. You can read it here.

Pick up your copy of On the Origin here!

 

100 MILES OF BASEBALL

Dale Jacobs & Heidi LM Jacobs were interviewed by Windsor Life Magazine about their book 100 Miles of Baseball: Fifty Games, One Summer (March 16, 2021)! Dale and Heidi spoke to Michael Seguin. The interview was published on September 27, in their Autumn 2021 issue. You can read it on their website here.

Get your copy of 100 Miles of Baseball here!

 

MURDER ON THE INSIDE  and BUSH RUNNERMurder on the Inside cover

Both Catherine Fogarty’s Murder on the Inside: The True Story of the Deadly Riot at Kingston Penitentiary (April 13, 2021) and Mark Bourrie’s Bush Runner (April 2, 2019) were reviewed in the latest issue of Ontario History! The reviews were published in print in the Autumn 2021 issue.

Reviewer Jordan House praised Murder on the Inside:

“Fogarty’s approach makes for a compelling narrative and an extremely readable book … Fogarty’s most significant contribution is in a number of original interviews with guards, including one who had been held hostage, and prisoners who had lived through the riot. These interviews allow for a rich chronicling of events … Murder on the Inside successfully weaves a concise history of Canada’s most notorious prison into a compelling story of the 1971 riot and its aftermath and is a valuable contribution to the history of Canada’s prisons and the Canadian prison justice movement.”

Reviewer Chris Sanagan praised Bush Runner:

“It is the theme of survival that dominates Radisson’s life and is the beating heart of Mark Bourrie’s biography, Bush Runner: The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson … A journalist and historian, Bourrie recognizes a good story when he sees one … In his hands, the life of Radisson plays out like some kind of early Canadian tragi-comedy … Masterful.”

Get your copy of Murder on the Inside here!

Get your copy of Bush Runner here!