If your taste in literature is twisted like mine, do yourself a favour and read Dirty Birds by Morgan Murray. You'll laugh your tail feathers off.
Dirty Birds
Morgan Murray
2020
Twenty-three-year-old Milton Ontario wants to become a poet like his hero, Leonard Cohen. So, in the fall of 2007, he leaves his basement apartment in his parents' house in Bellybutton, Saskatchewan. The bus he jumps onto takes him to Montreal--the most romantic city in Canada, or is it?
Milton is ridiculously unprepared to live in Montreal. He has no job prospects. He has barely a basic understanding of French. Fortunately, thanks to Craiglist, he does have a place to stay--or does he?
Dirty Birds is a dirty book with foul language and risque scenes. Shocking! I loved every page. In fact, I laughed at the beginning, the middle, and the end. And yet Dirty Birds is not fluff. Author Morgan Murray addresses some weighty questions--what is love and what is the meaning of life?
Will Ferguson describes Morgan Murray as Canada's Vonnegut. I've never read Vonnegut. (My husband thinks this is a crime.) I have read Tom Robbins. So I'd describe Morgan Murray as Canada's Tom Robbins or maybe he's Canada's Morgan Murray.
How did I find Dirty Birds?
It was on Canada Reads long-list.
Where did I get this book?
From the publisher Breakwater Books. You can buy it here and here and here.
What attracted me to this book?
I was born and raised in rural Manitoba. In my early twenties, I left to live--for nine months--in eastern Canada (Newfoundland, Ontario, Quebec). The people I met and the adventures I had rocked my world--much like Milton's world was rocked.
More about Dirty Birds...
Interviewed with Morgan Murray
Wednesday, March 10
Online Author Reading
Written and read by Leanne Dyck
What would you do to make a dream reality?
Sunday, March 14
Short Story
Catch It
Written by Leanne Dyck
a silly little story to make you giggle--or scratch your head
Preparing for Canada Reads
This week I've enjoyed an entertaining and informative podcast...
On the Road with Penguin Classics
There's a collection of seven episodes in the first series and there's is a promise of more.
...And there's also...
Interview with authors
Join me in celebrating International Women's Day...
Celebrate the women in our lives
in our families--living and dead
our friends--past and present
our role models--historical and contemporary
in our community--the powerful and those in need
Remember past Women's Days
Me: The day Mayne Island women met at the Agricultural Society Hall. Some brought songs. Others brought stories. We shared caring, understanding, empathy. We celebrated sisterhood. We celebrated our differences and commonalities.
You:
Think about what it's like to be a woman
Me: without a sister, a child--with only the memories of my mom
You:
Me: Growing strong in the community of my chosen sisters
You:
Thoughts I'll carry with me...
-we aren't lesser because of our gender
-men are our partners--we draw on our differences and our commonalities
-we are strong because we are women, we are strong because we live in sisterhood
Happy International Women's Day!
