Showing posts with label Random House Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Random House Canada. Show all posts

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Book Review: Binge by Douglas Coupland (short story collection), published by Random House Canada

 Douglas Coupland has his finger on the pulse of the 2020s. He knows us--with and without our clothes on.



Binge: 60 short stories to make your brain feel different

Douglas Coupland

Random House Canada

2021

251 pages


The book is aptly titled Binge because that's precisely what you'll want to do with this collection. Like chips, you won't be able to stop reading after devouring one story. And as the stories are all under ten pages in length, you'll easily be able to indulge your desire. However, you may want to slow down to meditate upon what you just read. There is much food for thought.

The stories are written in the first person and feature a diverse cast of characters--male, female; gay, straight; abled, disabled; children, adults. Some stories are paired--Coupland examines the same story from two unusual, always entertaining angles.

Binge is at times humourous, always provocative. It's a must-read.

Favourite quotes...

'and it dawned on me that most people are totally lost inside their own lives, and that I'd better be getting on with mine really quick, before it was all over.' (p. 41)

'Not everyone wants to be who they're supposed to be 100 percent of the time. Everyone has hidden selves just waiting to pop out. It's who we are.' (p. 22)

'if our lives aren't stories, what are they? Glorified microbes on a petri dish?' (p. 250)


photo by ldyck

September on this Blog...

Thursday, September 8

International Literacy Day

Sunday, September 11

Books by Leanne Dyck (short story)

"Dyslexics don't like books. They're reluctant readers," they say.

Hmm, well... Not all of us. I've always loved stories. This story explains how much.

Sunday, September 18

An Old Man On A Small Island by Leanne Dyck (short story)

What do people do for fun on my remote island home? You may wonder.

This short story answers that question.

Sunday, September 25

Book Review: The Secret Diary of Mona Hasan by Salma Hussain (middle grade novel)

This book opened my Western eyes to life in another country.



photo by ldyck


A story...

Launching a Poetry Book

"I'm pleased to read to you from my collection of love poems."

Sunday, May 12, 2019

Book Review: Bellevue Square by Michael Redhill



Buy this book

Published in Canada by Anchor Canada,
a division of Random House of Canada Limited,
a Penguin Random House Company
Published in 2017
winner of the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize


Bookstore owner, Jean Mason is happily married and the mother of two boys--Nick and Reid. One day a regular customer comes into her store and tells her that he just saw her twin or doppelganger or clone or... What exactly is Ingrid Fox? Who exactly is Jean Mason? The answers are just beyond Jean's grasp. Does that make her an unreliable narrator? Technically yes. But she isn't trying to deceive. She is sharing her truth. 

And, in fact, I found this book an intriguing blend of literary fiction and mystery. 

Chapter-by-chapter, the reader grows to realize that Jean Mason has... Well, there's something wrong with her brain.

Polite society has trouble talking about (and accepting) people who have brain problems. We (the disabled) are just supposed to grow out of, get over or seek treatment for it. 

I commend Michael Redhill for writing this important book.
'And more people should recognize that if you can treat it with medicine, it must be like every other disease and no one should be ashamed to have it and others shouldn't be afraid of it.' (p. 171)

More...

CBC books' interview with Michael Redhill 

Why should you attend Ellen Schwartz's writing workshop on Mayne Island?

I'll share the top four reasons this coming Wednesday

Next Sunday evening on this blog...


photo by ldyck

Annie 
This short story was inspired by the novel 
The Perfect Nanny by Leila Slimani

What would you do to make a dream reality?

Sharing my author journey...

I love to write... I love to read... I love short stories
If you do too you'll love this list...
Short List Announced for the 2018 Danuta Gleed Literary Award