Quarterly Stories: Autumn 2014

2017-07-24T14:27:25-04:00

“Bad coffee can only keep you company for so long at four a.m. in a bus depot.” Caitlin Press, 2014 All of the characters in Janine Alyson Young’s debut collection seem as though they would immediately recognize the truth of that. They all seem to have a spot

Quarterly Stories: Autumn 20142017-07-24T14:27:25-04:00

Heather O’Neill’s The Girl Who Was Saturday Night (2014)

2014-10-07T15:10:37-04:00

When a passage on page two is just breathtakingly powerful, readers’ expectations soar. It seems impossible to imagine reading beyond this passage without stopping to reread, or not reading it aloud to a friend sitting alongside, or not tapping the stranger sitting next to you, pointing and saying “Check this out”.

Heather O’Neill’s The Girl Who Was Saturday Night (2014)2014-10-07T15:10:37-04:00

Alexi Zentner’s The Lobster Kings (2014)

2014-09-10T19:34:11-04:00

Like his first novel, Touch, The Lobster Kings showcases Alexi Zentner’s penchant for storytelling. Knopf Canada, 2014 Readers who learn that this novel is a retelling of Shakespeare’s tragedy "King Lear" might expect the tale to distance readers, with the original story centuries old and memories of stilted

Alexi Zentner’s The Lobster Kings (2014)2014-09-10T19:34:11-04:00

Tamai Kobayashi’s Prairie Ostrich (2014)

2014-09-02T16:49:08-04:00

You might be tempted to call eight-year-old Egg Murakami enchanting or winsome. Even plucky or spirited. Goose Lane Editions, 2014 Each of these terms does reflect Egg in some sense. But such descriptions suggest something young-Oprah-heroine-esque about her. Egg’s character is too fully rounded to simply select the

Tamai Kobayashi’s Prairie Ostrich (2014)2014-09-02T16:49:08-04:00

My mini-Canlit-read-a-thon on Canada Day, 2014 (II)

2014-07-23T07:13:42-04:00

Choosing a stack based on whimsy rather than duty urged me to binge on these books with enthusiasm. The afternoon heat was held at bay by good stories and an assortment of drinks (often rum with some sort of fruit juice, from tangerine to strawberry, lemon to cherry). And without

My mini-Canlit-read-a-thon on Canada Day, 2014 (II)2014-07-23T07:13:42-04:00
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