AltWeeklies Wire
'Through Black Spruce' is a Muscular Novel Worthy of All the Hypenew
Joseph Boyden's second novel is stunning at being a million things at once, but at heart it's a page-turning campfire story told by one person to another in hushed tones, heartbeat to heartbeat.
NOW Magazine |
Zoe Whittall |
11-03-2008 |
Fiction
E-Books Get Some Tractionnew
I've been slamming the e-book concept for years, but I decided to give e-books another crack, this time with a loaner copy of Sony's brand new PRS-700 touch-screen Reader under my arm. I've been using it for the past couple of weeks and am impressed by its readability.
NOW Magazine |
Joseph Wilson |
10-27-2008 |
Books
Critical Mass Guru Chris Carlsson Lives to Overthrow Moneynew
His new book, Nowtopia: How Pirate Programmers, Outlaw Bicyclists And Vacant-Lot Gardeners Are Inventing The Future Today, looks at "work that matters and is done well."
NOW Magazine |
Mike Smith |
10-17-2008 |
Author Profiles & Interviews
'The Soul of All Great Designs' Goes Off the Railsnew
Neil Bissoondath can really write, but in his latest novel he gets trapped by his own unworkable premise.
NOW Magazine |
Susan G. Cole |
10-14-2008 |
Fiction
The Worst Thing About 'Be Good' is That it's Too Shortnew
Though a cover blurb for Stacey May Fowles's first novel proclaims it to be essential reading for women in their 20s, Be Good is also essential for 20-something men.
NOW Magazine |
Jacob Scheier |
10-14-2008 |
Fiction
'So Many Ways To Sleep Badly' is an Original, Visceral Reading Experiencenew
I give it extra points for including a sex-worker theme that avoids all the overdone stereotypes.
NOW Magazine |
Zoe Whittall |
10-06-2008 |
Fiction
Irvine Welsh's Wimpy 'Crime'new
Welsh, known best for his druggy humor, gleefully scatological bent and the gruff pub vernacular of his characters, plays it amazingly straight and close to the vest in his most recent novel, Crime. So close and earnest, in fact, that you can hardly believe you're reading Welsh.
NOW Magazine |
David Jager |
09-29-2008 |
Fiction
Tags: Irvine Welsh
Putin Power Playnew
Today Russia has returned a stronger, richer and more confident nation, having barely survived the plundering of its wealth and the impoverishment of its people during the drunken reign of Boris Yeltsin. But Russia's resurrection has come at a high price.
NOW Magazine |
Howard Goldenthal |
09-22-2008 |
Nonfiction
Paul Auster's New Novel Ruminates on Post-9/11 Family Schismsnew
Auster's new novel ruminates on the fault lines and schisms within a marriage, a family and the landscape of post-9/11 America.
NOW Magazine |
David Jager |
09-08-2008 |
Fiction
Why is Andrew Pyper Wasting His Time on Thrillers?new
The bestselling Toronto author, who won the Arthur Ellis Award for best first novel, has immense talent, but you get the feeling he's taking the easy route churning out whodunits.
NOW Magazine |
Susan G. Cole |
09-02-2008 |
Fiction
Shashi Tharoor Examines the Changing Culture of Indianew
The book, a collection of essays Tharoor wrote for the Times of India and other publications, has no clearly defined thesis or narrative, yet is packed full of insightful commentary on India’s rapidly changing cultural landscape.
NOW Magazine |
Joseph Wilson |
08-26-2008 |
Nonfiction
No 'Hero' Here in Jason Peter's Memoirnew
Peter reveals his own darkest moments of drug abuse, but it's almost unforgivable that he sweeps under the rug the fact that his brother Christian, who guided him during those glory years at Nebraska, was at the center of a notorious case of athlete protectionism.
NOW Magazine |
Jason Keller |
08-11-2008 |
Nonfiction
'Innercity Girl Like Me' Reads Like a Memoir But It's Fictionnew
The market is flooded with terribly written sensationalist survival stories, and Innercity Girl Like Me seems to aspire to be one of them.
NOW Magazine |
Zoe Whittall |
08-04-2008 |
Fiction
Lien Chao's 'The Chinese Knot' Offers Unique Perspectivenew
All these stories are told from the point of view of single Chinese-Canadian women, who make up an intriguing demographic. Many of them came to Canada in the 80s and 90s only to experience painful family conflict – usually ending in divorce – once they got here.
NOW Magazine |
Staff |
08-04-2008 |
Fiction
On October 27, 1962, the World Nearly Came to an Endnew
Much has been written about the ultimate crisis of the Cold War, but Michael Dobbs' account vividly captures the white-knuckled anxiety that gripped the White House and the Kremlin during those dark days.
NOW Magazine |
Howard Goldenthal |
07-28-2008 |
Nonfiction
