Doubleday Canada Digital
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The Petty Details of So-and-So's Life
Gibb Camilla
- Doubleday canada digital
- 1 Février 2012
- 9780307374929
With her second novel, The Petty Details of So-and-so';s Life, award-winning and celebrated author Camilla Gibb probes the bruises of family with humanity, hilarity, and a keen eye for the grotesque to deliver one of the most anticipated books of the year.
A startling and ambitious novel, as funny as it is poignant, The Petty Details of So-and-so';s Life tells the story of Blue and Emma Taylor, who, despite an almost telepathic connection, respond to the sudden disappearance of their explosive father in remarkably different ways. Emma sets off in pursuit of a new family, and discovers a sense of belonging in the most unexpected places. Burly, tattoo-stamped Blue, haunted by the brutal, disparaging voice of their father, embarks on a cross-country search for the elusive parent. Emma and Blue share a most intimate connection, one forged in the secret worlds and wordless communications of childhood. As they grow, they discover the limits of the language they share.
Camilla Gibb';s debut novel, Mouthing the Words, won the 2000 City of Toronto Book Award, and has been published in twelve countries. Camilla is one of two Canadian authors named to the Orange Futures List, compiled by the Orange Prize jury to celebrate twenty-one promising writers to watch in the new century.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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A bold and brilliant debut from a darkly funny new voice.Oskar is a minimalist composer best known for a piece called Variations on Tram Timetables. He is married to a Californian art dealer named Laura and he lives with two cats, named after Russian composers, in an Eastern European city.But this book isn't really about Oskar. Oskar is in Los Angeles, having his marriage dismantled by lawyers. He has entrusted an old university friend with the task of looking after his cats, and taking care of his perfect, beautiful apartment.Despite the fact that Oskar has left dozens of surreally detailed notes covering every aspect of looking after the flat, things do not go well.Care of Wooden Floors is about how a tiny oversight can trip off a disastrous and farcical (fatal, even) chain of consequences. It's about a friendship between two men who don't know each other very well. It's about alienation and being alone in a foreign city. It's about the quest for perfection and the struggle against entropy. And it is, a little, about how to take care of wooden floors.
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After spending a year in prison, Ralph has explicit plans for his first night of freedom: tonight, someone will be held accountable. He goes to murderous lengths to learn the address of his former wife - the woman he blames for his fate. Determined to bring her to his idea of justice, Ralph's next step is to travel from Florida to Ohio to find his ex-wife's house on Mad River Road.
Also in Florida, Jamie Kellogg wakes from the agonizing nightmare of her mother's funeral, and assesses her life: she's a twenty-nine-year-old woman in a dead-end job, with an ex-husband in Atlanta, a married lover in the hospital, and a virtual stranger in her bed. But this stranger is everything the previous men in her life weren't: tender, attentive, and adventurous. After convincing Jamie to quit her miserable job and ditch her judgmental, perfectionist sister, Ralph proposes a romantic getaway. While Jamie wonders if this thrilling man might finally be her Prince Charming, they plan a road trip to visit his son, who lives with his mother on a street called Mad River Road.
As riveting and beguiling as Joy Fielding's previous novels, Mad River Road is a tale of courage, truth, and the need to trust one's instincts.
From the Hardcover edition.
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From NEW YORK TIMES BESTELLING author Joy Fielding--a chilling psychological thriller that explores the depths of psychopathic behaviour and the lengths to which a mother will go to protect her daughter.
When an innocent group of campers ventures to the Adirondacks for a trip, they are followed by a murderous pair... A group of unlikely travelling companions--a woman, her two oddball friends, her teenage daughter, and her soon-to-be ex-husband's new fiancee--find themselves on a camping trip in the Adirondacks at the same time that a pair of teenage killers is terrorizing the area.
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How can you face your future when your past it a lie?When Rosie Kenning's mother, Trudie, dies from Huntingdon's disease, her whole world falls apart. Not only does Rosie desperately miss her mum, but now she has to face the fact that she could have inherited the fatal illness herself. Until she discovers that Trudie wasn't her biological mother at all ... Rosie is stunned. Can this be true? Is she grieving for a mother who wasn't even hers to lose? And if Trudie wasn't her mother, who is?But as Rosie delves into her past to discover who she really is, she is faced with a heart-breaking dilemma - to continue living a lie, or to reveal a truth that will shatter the lives of everyone around her...
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Long before she made her first trip to Afghanistan as an embedded reporter for The Globe and Mail, Christie Blatchford was already one of Canadayes'>#8217;s most respected and eagerly read journalists. Her vivid prose, her unmistakable voice, her ability to connect emotionally with her subjects and readers, her hardwon and hardnosed skills as a reporteryes'>#8211;these had already established her as a household name. But with her many reports from Afghanistan, and in dozens of interviews with the returned members of the 1st Battalion, Princess Patriciayes'>#8217;s Canadian Light Infantry and others back at home, she found the subject she was born to tackle. Her reporting of the conflict and her deeply empathetic observations of the men and women who wear the maple leaf are words for the ages, fit to stand alongside the nationyes'>#8217;s best writing on war.It is a testament to Christie Blatchfordyes'>#8217;s skills and integrity that along with the admiration of her readers, she won the respect and trust of the soldiers. They share breathtakingly honest accounts of their desire to serve, their willingness to confront fear and danger in the battlefield, their loyalty towards each other and the heartbreak occasioned by the loss of one of their own. Grounded in insights gained over the course of three trips to Afghanistan in 2006, and drawing on hundreds of hours of interviews not only with the servicemen and women with whom she shared so much, but with their cmmanders and family members as well, Christie Blatchford creates a detailed, complex and deeply affecting picture of military life in the twentyfirst century.From the Hardcover edition.
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A thrilling account of suffering and survival, The Ice Passage charts an epic quest from desire to destiny.
It begins as a mission of mercy. Four and a half years after the disappearance of Arctic explorer Sir John Franklin and his two ships, HMS Investigator sets sail in search of them. Instead of rescuing lost comrades, the Investigator's officers and crew soon find themselves trapped in their own ordeal, facing starvation, madness, and death on the unknown Polar Sea. If only they can save themselves, they will bring back news of perhaps the greatest maritime achievement of the age: their discovery of the elusive Northwest Passage between Europe and the Orient.
In addition to their Great Success, the "Investigators" are the first Europeans to contact the Inuit of the western Arctic archipelago, and the first to record sustained observations of the local wildlife and climate. But the cost of hubris, ignorance, daring, and deceit is soon laid bare. In the face of catastrophe, a desperate rescue plan is made to send away the weakest men to meet their fate on the ice.
In a narrative rich with insight and grace, Brian Payton reconstructs the final voyage of the Investigator and the trials of her officers and crew. Drawing on long-forgotten journals, transcripts, and correspondence -- some never before published -- Payton weaves an astonishing tale of endurance. Along the way, he vividly evokes an Arctic wildernesswe now stand to lose.
From the Hardcover edition.
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The gripping story of the twentieth centuryyes'>#8217;s greatest struggle in the modest voice of a Canadian teenager in the RAF.
In 1940, nineteenyearold Howard Hewer dreamed of being the next Billy Bishop, of piloting Spitfires or Hurricanes over Europe. His dream was shattered when he was selected instead for a career as a wireless operator in Bomber Command.
But he got all the adventure he signed on for. Hewer and his crews of 218 and 148 Squadrons flew important night operations over Germany and North Africa, dropping their deadly payloads and dodging enemy flak.
And he was not always much safer on the ground. He survived the Blitz in London, a Uboat attack in the South Atlantic, a firefight with Italian troops near elAlamien, as well as chaste love affairs, fistfights, and beers with Boer rebels.
Selfdeprecating, bittersweet, and alive to both the horrors of war and the friendships and courage of the men and women who fight it, In for a Penny, In for a Pound is the unforgettable story of a young Canadianyes'>#8217;s experience of historyyes'>#8217;s greatest war.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Marking the 225th anniversary of loyalist landings in Canada, this important and comprehensive history is essential reading on the shaping of our country.
The few hundred loyalists who gathered at Roubalet's Tavern in New York on the night of Saturday, November 16, 1782, shared a vision of the future intended to sustain them through the nightmare of the present. Abandoned by the king to whom they had promised their loyalty, unwelcome in the land that had so recently been theirs, they had no choice but to flee. But to where? And for what?
Their dream was to build a new and improved New York City. They would do this on the rocky shores of Roseway Bay, on the south coast of Nova Scotia, beside one of the best harbours in the world. The city would be cosmopolitan, but more refined, more royal, more loyal, and certainly more exclusive than the one they were now preparing to leave behind forever. At first, it seemed as if their dream would come true. Within the decade, however, Shelburne was a wasteland of abandoned homes and shops.
What happened? Plagued by drought, fires, and poor land quality, Shelburne's fortunes quickly fell. Vividly told through the intertwined narratives of an eclectic collection of its early settlers, Loyalists and Layabouts is the fascinating story of Shelburne's "rapid rise and faster fall." From the Hardcover edition.
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Alan Macklin has started his first year at university and he's saying goodbye to his old life: no more curfews and parental interference, no more high school courses he doesn't want to take; and, most importantly, no more striking out with girls. At least that's the plan. But the world of university dating is more complicated than he ever could have imagined. Even his devoutly religious roommate seems to have more luck than him.
His ex-girlfriend Maggie still gives him advice, but it seems that no matter what, Alan can only get so far with a girl.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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A hilariously honest look at the misadventures of teenage dating.
Alan Macklin is your average 17-year-old guy with a simple goal. He wants to get a girl. But trial and error has made one thing perfectly clear: when it comes to the opposite sex, Alan keeps on striking out. Repeatedly. And painfully. He knows he needs help. His friend Jeremy proves useless, so he turns to someone who might actually have some good advice.
Maggie Macpherson has lots of goals for herself, including a career in law or psychology or both, but she needs some cash to reach them. Alan becomes the perfect client for her new consulting business: a desperate guy with a simple objective and deep pockets. For a fee, she takes on the Alan project and coaches him from girl to girl, base to base.
With Maggie's guidance Alan comically builds his dating experience until he's convinced he can get along without her coaching. But soon he's washed up on the romantic shores, dumped by the woman of his dreams. Once again, there's only one person who can give Alan the advice he needs... but he has to be willing to listen.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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From the author of the internationally acclaimed The African Safari Papers comes a story of a man caught between civic responsibility and sweet revenge. Meet Fred Pickle. He has a severe brain injury. For the past seven years Fred has lived under the loving guardianship of his uncle Jack on his sheep farm. Fredyes'>#8217;s annual creation of a perfect neighbourhood rink is a joyous quasireligious ritual for him. And his local NHL team means more to him than it would to the average fan; it renews hope and happiness.So when the teamyes'>#8217;s owner announces he is moving the team, Fredyes'>#8217;s world begins to fall apart. Torn between the lawabiding influence of Uncle Jack and the radical urgings of Badger, an 81yearold anarchist, Fred must decide whether a plot of vengeance against the owner is a path to independence or oblivion.The Horn of a Lamb charts an unforgettable year in the life of the incomparable Fred Pickle, a year that begins with the promise of another hockey season, and ends in a way few could have foreseen especially the lambs.From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Berton brings the past alive with true stories of mystery and romance, tragedy and heroism, from the piracy of Bill Johnston, scourge of the St. Lawrence, to the weird saga of Brother XII and his mystic cult on Vancouver Island.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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In the four years between 1881 and 1885, Canada was forged into one nation by the building of the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Last Spike reconstructs the incredible story of how some 2,000 miles of steel crossed the continent in just five years -- exactly half the time stipulated in the contract. Pierre Berton recreates the adventures that were part of this vast undertaking: the railway on the brink of bankruptcy, with one hour between it and ruin; the extraordinary land boom of Winnipeg in 1881-1882; and the epic tale of how William Van Horne rushed 3,000 soldiers over a half-finished railway to quell the Riel Rebellion.
Dominating the whole saga are the men who made it all possible -- a host of astonishing characters: Van Horne, the powerhouse behind the vision of a transcontinental railroad; Rogers, the eccentric surveyor; Onderdonk, the cool New Yorker; Stephen, the most emotional of businessmen; Father Lacombe, the black-robed voyageur; Sam Steele, of the North West Mounted Police; Gabriel Dumont, the Prince of the Prairies; more than 7,000 Chinese workers, toiling and dying in the canyons of the Fraser Valley; and many more -- land sharks, construction geniuses, politicians, and entrepreneurs -- all of whom played a role in the founding of the new Canada west of Ontario.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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One chill Easter dawn in 1917, a blizzard blowing in their faces, the four divisions of the Canadian Corps in France went over the top of a muddy scarp knows as Vimy Ridge. Within hours, they held in their grasp what had eluded both British and French armies in over two years of fighting: they had seized the best-defended German bastion on the Western Front.
How could an army of civilians from a nation with no military tradition secure the first enduring victory in thirty-two months of warfare with only 10,000 casualties, when the French had lost 150,000 men in their unsuccessful attempt? Pierre Berton's haunting and lucid narrative shows how, unfettered by military rules, civilians used daring and common sense to overcome obstacles that had eluded the professionals.
Drawing on unpublished personal accounts and interviews, Berton brings home what it was like for the young men, some no more than sixteen years old, who clawed their way up the sodden, shell-torn slopes in a struggle they innocently believed would make war obsolete. He tells of the soldiers who endured horrific conditions to secure this great victory, painting a vivid picture of trench warfare. In his account of this great battle, Pierre Berton brilliantly illuminated the moment of tragedy and greatness that marked Canada's emergence as a nation.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Nearly a century ago, in the Forbidden City, China's last emperor reigned from his dragon throne. Although he was only a boy, the imperial decrees issued in his name echoed in every corner of the country. Every man had to shave his head and wear a single pigtail to symbolize his submission to the emperor, and every woman was second in importance to the men in her family. Women were obedient to their fathers and brothers and later to the husbands in their arranged marriages. Certainly no woman was encouraged to attend school or to show any independence.
Into this world, in a village in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, White Lily was born. She had a happy childhood, running and playing, until, at the age of four, she was forced to undergo the painful procedure of foot binding required for all females of her social class. But White Lily has her heart set on more than a traditional role in society, and she enlists the support of her beloved elder brother. Together they devise a plan to defy tradition and convince their father that White Lily's feet and mind must be allowed to grow.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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The true story of Canada's greatest sailor, the first to sail around the world singlehandedly.
When Joshua Slocum sailed into port in Massachusetts on June 27, 1898, he was the first man ever to have completed a voyage around the world without technology, money or companion. It took him three years to cover the 46,000 miles, and along the way he was chased by pirates, buffeted by storms, and narrowly escaped death by sharks. When a goat ate his charts, he managed to navigate through the Caribbean by memory and intuition.
This is the truelife adventure story of an extraordinary man, who ran away to sea at sixteen and never looked back. Born on a farm in Nova Scotia, he apprenticed on voyages to China, Hong Kong and Indonesia; met and married his wife in Sydney, Australia, and raised his family aboard sailing vessels in ports around the world. He survived mutinies, lost cargoes, terrible storms, and treacheries at sea before resolving on his voyage around the world in a dilapidated oyster sloop he named The Spray. After settling down and writing his memoirs, he set sail on November 14, 1909, and was never seen again.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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When Garnet Raven was three years old, he was taken from his home on an Ojibway Indian reserve and placed in a series of foster homes. Having reached his midteens, he escapes at the first available opportunity, only to find himself cast adrift on the streets of the big city.Having skirted the urban underbelly once too often by age 20, he finds himself thrown in jail. While there, he gets a surprise letter from his longforgotten native family.The sudden communication from his past spurs him to return to the reserve following his release from jail. Deciding to stay awhile, his life is changed completely as he comes to discover his sense of place, and of self. While on the reserve, Garnet is initiated into the ways of the Ojibwayboth ancient and modernby Keeper, a friend of his grandfather, and last fount of history about his people's ways.By turns funny, poignant and mystical, Keeper'n Me reflects a positive view of Native life and philosophyas well as casting fresh light on the redemptive power of one's community and traditions.From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Set in Vancouver's Chinatown in the 1930s and 1940s, Choy continues the story of the Chen family household, this time narrated by First Son, Kiam-Kim. We first meet Kiam-Kim at the age of eight, staring at the yellowed photograph of his mother, who died in China when he was just a baby. Kiam-Kim, Poh-Poh (his larger-than-life grandmother) and Mr. Chen, his demure and honest father, journey to a new life in Vancouver's Old Chinatown. Following the dream of finding gold and then one day returning to China -- wealthy -- they, like many Chinese families around them, find themselves in a country on the brink of the Second World War, struggling to survive in a foreign land and keep alive the traditions of an older world.
Finely crafted, and rich in historical detail, All That Matters depicts 1930s Vancouver in the haunting hues of memory, and sees in the Chen family a fragile miniature of a larger world. Dwelling on Kiam-Kim's sense of responsibility to his community, Choy unfolds the Chen family's secrets in thoughtful and luminous prose, leading the reader to a breathtaking conclusion that far transcends the limits of its time and place, and gestures towards all humanity.
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David Adams Richards takes us behind his gun and into the Canadian forest for his most powerful work of non-fiction yet.
In his brilliant non-fiction, David Adams Richards - first and foremost one of Canada's greatest and best-beloved novelists - has been writing a kind of memoir by other means. Like his previous titles Lines On Water, about his pursuit of angling, and Hockey Dreams, about the game his disabled body prevented him from playing, Facing the Hunter explores the meaning of a sport and the way in which it touches lives, not least that of the author. And as with God Is, his recent book about his faith, it is also an impassioned defence of a set of values and a way of life that Richards believes are under attack.
Lovers of David Adams Richards' novels will be fascinated and enlightened to note the interplay between his former life as a keen hunter - he hunts less and less these days, as he explains - and the narratives and characters of his fiction. But this is also a perfect starting point for anyone coming new to Richards. The storytelling in this book, the evocation of the Canadian wild and those who venture into it, the sheer power of the prose, show a great writer at the height of his powers.
From the Hardcover edition.
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From the author of the bestselling Red, White and Drunk All Over, this book will amuse and enthrall with its character sketches of obsessive personalities, travel to lovely settings, mouth-watering descriptions, of food and wine, "hidden" wine education and neurotic humor. Standing firmly against wine snobbery by insisting that good wine doesn't have to be expensive, award-winning wine writer Natalie MacLean travels the globe on an uncompromising quest to find fabulous wine bargains.
From the Hardcover edition.
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The bestselling author of Brain Fuel and An Apple a Day reveals the science of being well, eating well, and staying well clear of "alternative therapy" charlatans.
Health Lab's theme is the most popular of Dr Joe's specialities. There are riveting and sometimes hair-raising vignettes from the history of medicine and food production. There are reports aimed at equipping readers to recognize and beware muddled thinking, misunderstandings and deceptions in media stories about health and nutrition and in the claims made by the peddlars of "alternative" therapies. There is a wealth of information on the science of inner well-being and outer beauty. The secret to good health lies in understanding the chemistry involved. Ask Dr. Joe.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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To commemorate the bi-centenary of the War of 1812, Anchor Canada brings together Pierre Berton's two groundbreaking books on the subject. The Invasion of Canada is a remarkable account of the war's first year and the events that led up to it; Pierre Berton transforms history into an engrossing narrative that reads like a fast-paced novel. Drawing on personal memoirs and diaries as well as official dispatches, the author has been able to get inside the characters of the men who fought the war - the common soldiers as well as the generals, the bureaucrats and the profiteers, the traitors and the loyalists.
The Canada-U.S. border was in flames as the War of 1812 continued. York's parliament buildings were on fire, Niagara-on-the-Lake burned to the ground and Buffalo lay in ashes. Even the American capital of Washington, far to the south, was put to the torch. The War of 1812 had become one of the nineteenth century's bloodiest struggles.
Flames Across the Border is a compelling evocation of war at its most primeval - the muddy fields, the frozen forests and the ominous waters where men fought and died. Pierre Berton skilfully captures the courage, determination and terror of the universal soldier, giving new dimension and fresh perspective to this early conflict between the two emerging nations of North America.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
