Québecois Reads: Sealing the Deal

2019-05-27T18:57:14-04:00

The title of Pasha Malla’s 2015 article in The New Yorker’s Page-Turner says it all: “Too Different and Too Familiar: The Challenge of French-Canadian Literature.” Because it is a challenge to locate French-Canadian literature within the landscape of Canadian Literature, even for those of us who devote a significant

Québecois Reads: Sealing the Deal2019-05-27T18:57:14-04:00

Beyond I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)

2018-03-22T11:23:49-04:00

The first volume of Maya Angelou's autobiography begins with Marguerite arriving in Stamps, Arkansas, at three years old, with her brother, Bailey, one year older, in the care of Miss. Annie Henderson, their grandmother ("Momma"). It moves from the store to the churchyard, from hymn-singing to beatings. It crosses time and space fluidly.

Beyond I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969)2018-03-22T11:23:49-04:00

Zora Neale Hurston’s Dust Tracks on the Road (1942)

2017-09-14T09:49:40-04:00

"She was bodacious. She was outrageous. She enjoyed shaking things up." One contributor to the "Jump at the Sun" documentary about Zora Neale Hurston described her this way. Peter Bagge's new graphic biography suggests "unencumbered passion" and "grit" (Fire!!! The Zora Neale Hurston Story). In Alice Walker's essay, which opens

Zora Neale Hurston’s Dust Tracks on the Road (1942)2017-09-14T09:49:40-04:00

Mazo de la Roche’s Ringing the Changes (1957)

2021-07-02T16:34:42-04:00

When I first peeked into the Jalna books, I discovered that Mazo de la Roche's biographers depended heavily upon Ringing the Changes, her autobiography, which I was pleased to find in the library. It's that kind of old book whose pages have been turned so often that they are softer

Mazo de la Roche’s Ringing the Changes (1957)2021-07-02T16:34:42-04:00

December 2015, In My Reading Log

2020-09-16T15:54:55-04:00

Three of these books were inspired by the conjunction between my own shelves and this year's Random House Bingo, which has a CanLit theme. The Tiger Claw filled my Nominated-for-the-Giller square, Evan Munday's second October Schwartz for the Mystery-or-Thriller square, and Elaine Lui's book about her relationship with her mother

December 2015, In My Reading Log2020-09-16T15:54:55-04:00
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