Michael Ondaatje's The Cat's Table McClelland & Stewart, 2011 You can learn a lot from reading novels. For instance, in reading this one, you could learn the following: How to spell Egypt (Ever Grasping Your Precious Tits); The way to a first-class breakfast on a cruise even if you're not
Guy Vanderhaeghe's A Good Man McClelland & Stewart, 2011 Sebastian Barry has said that a good historical novel is about "retrieving the present moment".* That is true of Guy Vanderhaeghe's A Good Man. From the beautiful but austere cover art of the frontier, to the detailed descriptions of fort and
Marina Endicott's The Little Shadows Random House - Doubleday, 2011 Last Sunday, Marina Endicott appeared with Nicole Lundrigan, Riel Nason and Miriam Toews at a round table, moderated by the (talented) Susan G. Cole, at the 32nd annual International Festival of Authors. Sometimes in a round table session, one author
Dan Vyleta's The Quiet Twin Harper Collins, 2011 Dan Vyleta's The Quiet Twin is like Hitchcock's "Rear Window" gone wrong-er. There's no Technicolor; imagine everyone is dressed in black, and that some individuals conceal an over-sized pocket-knife. Instead of the director cameo, there is a little blonde girl with pigtails
When I first tried to determine the most challenging part of this season's prize-list reading, I was about to stare down the Giller longlist. Yes, you, with your 5318 pages, of which I have read only 4012. I'm not giving up, and I still have a week! And I know
