8 Canadian Authors to Read in August
Canada Lives Here tells the tumultuous story of public broadcasting in Canada, from its inception in 1933 to the CBC's current, controversial attempts to adapt to collapsing revenues and new technologies. It explores in detail the struggle to preserve public space and foster community in an environment devoted to profit-making, arguing that the ideals of public service broadcasting are more relevant now than ever. Rowland, author of the influential Saving the CBC: Balancing Profit and Public Service (2013), identifies the issues crucial to the CBC's survival and proposes carefully considered policy options. This is a book for everyone who wants to understand what's really at stake with the threatened eclipse of the nation's most important cultural institution.
(ISBN 9781927535820)
November's Radio, Steve Noyes' second novel, tells the story of recently separated Wendy and Gary. Wendy takes off to China, where she falls in with two performance artists. The three navigate questions of art, cultural difference, mental health and what it means to be free. Gary remains in Victoria, BC, stuck in a cubicle at the Ministry of Wellness. He's given the task of reviewing the research of an expensive anti-anxiety medication in order to make a recommendation whether the government should cover its cost. Nobody knows that he is on this medication himself. He navigates politics of public servitude, mediocrity and mental health. November's Radio's layers draw subtle parallels between China and Canada: both have political minefields of bureaucracy; both have outliers that do not know where they fit in. Noyes spins both yarns with keen wit and poetic language, concluding that sometimes all we can do is stick that one person who sees our neuroses and holds on anyway.
(ISBN 9780889823112)
Falling in Love with Hominids presents over a dozen years of Hopkinson's new, uncollected fiction, much of which has been unavailable in print. Her singular, vivid tales, which mix the modern with Afro-Carribean folklore, are occupied by creatures unpredictable and strange: chickens that breathe fire, adults who eat children, and spirits that haunt shopping malls.
(ISBN 9781616961985)
Peter Cammon, now retired from New Scotland Yard, is drawn into a confrontation with evil in a most unlikely setting. The former chief inspector finds himself in the suburbs of Salt Lake City, Utah, chasing a depraved man who may have deep terrorist connections.
When a killer attacks on tranquil Hollis Street, the neighbors seem apathetic — silent to the point of complicity. A resident has been beheaded, her husband has disappeared, and there is no obvious perpetrator. A drug dealer? A terrorist? An angry neighbor?
Peter joins the manhunt and is shocked to discover a link from the killer to the Unabomber and Oklahoma City bombing cases, files Peter himself worked on during the 1990s. In order to trap the killer-terrorist, Peter and his acquaintance in local law enforcement, Henry Pastern, must strike unholy alliances with corrupt cops, Mexican drug lords, and the Unabomber himself. Will Peter have to bend the law and embrace the rules of the Old West to stop this psychopath?
(ISBN 9781770410442)
Giller-longlisted fiction ― now in trade paper
Joe, a 36-year-old advertising copywriter for a slick New York agency, feels disillusioned with his life. He starts dreaming of a mysterious man, seeing him on the street, and hearing his voice. Joe decides to listen to the Man and so he waits on his stoop, day and night, for instructions. A local reporter takes notice, and soon Joe has become a media sensation, the centre of a storm. When the Man tells Joe to “go west,” he does, in search of meaning.
A surreal journey of a man who is searching for purpose and for happiness, Waiting for the Man is about the struggle to find something more in life. The paperback edition includes a bonus BackLit section with a reader’s guide, Q&A with the author, and more.
(ISBN 9781770412835)
Deluxe redesign of the Gerald Lampert Award-winning classic.
On the occasion of the press's 40th anniversary, Brick Books is proud to present the fourth of six new editions of classic books from our back catalogue. This edition of A Really Good Brown Girl features a new Introduction by Lee Maracle, a new Afterword by the author and a new cover and design by the renowned typographer Robert Bringhurst.
First published in 1996, A Really Good Brown Girl is a fierce, honest and courageous account of what it takes to grow into one's self and one's Métis heritage in the face of myriad institutional and cultural obstacles. It is an indispensable contribution to Canadian literature.
(ISBN 9781771313452)
Brought to Light is a collection of short stories about women who were connected to famous men, or who achieved fame in their own lives, as well as remarkable artists, journalists and others who have been left out of our cultural history and whose names we should not be learning for the first time. Contributors include; Jean Rae Baxter, Timothy Christian, John Corvese, Ethel Edey, B.D. Ferguson, Krista Foss, Frances Hern, Ellen S. Jaffe, Lise Levesque, Bruce Meyer, Jane Mulkewich, Katherine O'Flynn, Barb Rebelo, Wendi Stewart, Richard Van Holst, Michelle Ward Kantor, and Carol Leigh Wehking.
(ISBN 9781927079362)
Yes, the world faces substantial environmental challenges ― climate change, pollution, and extinction. But the surprisingly good news is that we have solutions to these problems. In the past 50 years, a remarkable number of environmental problems have been solved, while substantial progress is ongoing on others.
The Optimistic Environmentalist chronicles these remarkable success stories. Endangered species ― from bald eagles to gray whales ― pulled back from the precipice of extinction. Thousands of new parks, protecting billions of hectares of land and water. The salvation of the ozone layer, vital to life on Earth. The exponential growth of renewable energy powered by wind, water, and sun. The race to be the greenest city in the world. Remarkable strides in cleaning up the air we breathe and the water we drink. The banning of dozens of the world’s most toxic chemicals. A circular economy where waste is a thing of the past. Past successes pave the way for even greater achievements in the future.
Providing a powerful antidote to environmental despair, this book inspires optimism, leading readers to take action and exemplifying how change can happen. A bright green future is not only possible, it’s within our grasp.
(ISBN 9781770412385)