| "Promiscuity," "vicarious thrills" and "endless stimuli" are three eye-catching terms you'll find in the publisher's account of Christopher Willard's new novel, Garbage Head. The book takes on the promiscuous – as in, undiscriminating – use of communications technology, and vicariousness – as in, caring about Jenn and Brad or Tom and Penelope. And then there are the endless stimuli of advertising and such. All these things fill your head with trash or treasure, both of which figure in the novel. Willard hails from Bangor, Maine and comes to Calgary, where he lives among us now, via Montreal. When he reads at Pages on Thursday, May 12 at 7:40 p.m., there will be wine, there will be cheese.
Poetry month having flown past, it's now Asian Heritage Month, and so this edition of filling Station's Flywheel Reading Series celebrates writers with Asian connections. Sandy Lam, Crystal Mimura and Dale Lee Kwong will read at McNally Robinson on Thursday, May 12 at 7 p.m. Weyman Chan will host.
Asian heritage, when you think about it for even one second, is a vast thing. Buddhism is part of it, and Buddhist teacher Gen Kelsang Phuntsog will speak at McNally Robinson on the topic "How to Solve Our Human Problems." Gen Kelsang Phuntsog was born in Camrose and has studied Buddhism for more than 10 years. His talk explores the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism and takes place on Monday, May 9 at 7 p.m.
Can friendship help solve some of those human problems? Kathy Reimer believes female friendship in particular has a special power, and she presents her book on the subject, Future Sister's Woman, at McNally Robinson on Friday, May 6 at 8 p.m. Then the following week at the bookstore, Patricia Pearson, herself a woman, a journalist and a Leacock Humour Medal nominee, just laughs at all those human problems in her two new books, Area Woman Blows Gasket and Believe Me (the sequel to Playing House). That's on Wednesday, May 11 at 7 p.m.
WordFest is whetting our appetites for its fall menu by presenting an evening with John Ralston Saul next month. The influential author and philosopher (and partner of Gov. Gen. Adrienne Clarkson) reads from his new book, The Collapse of Globalism and the Reinvention of the World, at Knox United Church on June 8 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are on sale from Ticketmaster, Pages and the WordFest office (294-7462).
This July, the Alexandra Writers Centre Society (AWCS) is holding its third annual (W)rites of Summer. The five-day writing workshop, which runs from July 25 to 29, is led by local authors Marie Jakober (prose) and Vivian Hansen (poetry). The deadline to submit applications and work samples is May 13. To register or receive more information, call the AWCS at 264-4730 or go to www.alexandrawriters.org.
For the coming 90 days or so it will be Bryn Evans's job to fill this space, so please send him your bookish announcements, warnings and exhortations, care of books editor Martin Morrow at mmorrow@ffwd.greatwest.ca. And as for "summer reading," please don't settle for the same five fat fictions that the book columnists are preparing to tout. Who knows, maybe this is the summer to finally figure out string theory, or learn Ukrainian. Or just re-read Kenneth Grahame.
Best-sellers
Best-selling books for April 24 to April 30 at Pages on Kensington
Fiction & Poetry
1. Sweetness in the Belly
by Camilla Gibb
2. Saturday
by Ian McEwan
3. In the Company of Cheerful Ladies
by Alexander McCall Smith
4. Three Day Road
by Joseph Boyden
5. The Portrait
by Iain Pears
6. Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules
edited by David Sedaris
7. Re:Zoom
by Sheri-D Wilson
8. The Madonna List
by Max Foran
9. Break, Blow, Burn
by Camille Paglia
10. Ticknor
by Sheila Heti
Non-fiction
1. Lilac Moon
by Sharon Butala
2. Terry
by Douglas Coupland
3. Bitter Embrace
by Maggie Siggins
4. A Short History of Progress
by Ronald Wright
5. Collapse
by Jared Diamond
6. Blink
by Malcolm Gladwell
7. Romancing the Rockies
by Brian Brennan
8. French Women Don’t Get Fat
by Mireille Guiliand
9. 50 Things You’re Not Supposed to Know 2
by Russ Kick
10. Ghosting
by Jennie Erdal |
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