The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering The World Around Us McClelland and Stewart $19.95, 229 pages Reviewed by Jenny Aitken Nora Young is a well-known Canadian broadcaster and writer who lives in Toronto and hosts CBC Radio One’s Spark, a program that focuses on how technology affects the world around us. In […]
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By Jenny Aitken Now that I’m in my final year at university, I’m being asked The Question on almost a daily basis. It is The Question every undergrad dreads, especially ones studying creative writing. People look at me expectantly, “So, what’s your plan for after you graduate?” It happens everywhere now. The grocery store, the […]
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Business As Usual By Michael Boughn Published by NeWest Press 354 pages, $22.95 Reviewed by Jenny Aitken Michael Boughn, who has written plays, books of poetry and a young adult novel grounded in myth has now tried his hand at a new form: the mystery novel. In Business as Usual, Boughn weaves together a multi-faceted […]
How Should A Person Be? By Sheila Heti Published by House of Anansi 306 pages, $18.95 Reviewed by Jenny Aitken The cover of this book describes it as a novel from life, and it is certainly that. The novel opens with the protagonist, Sheila, posing a time-worn question: How should a person be? In How […]
By Jenny Aitken No. I don’t do yoga. Yes. I am aware that it is good for you, and wow it can even be done in warm temperatures, how neat, but I am also aware that I will spend the entire time in fear of farting and trying not to laugh at the symphony of […]
My Leaky Body By Julie Devaney Published by Goose Lane Editions, 342 pages, $22.95 Reviewed by Jenny Aitken It takes skill to centre an entire novel on bowel movements, and in My Leaky Body, Julie Devaney does just that. This memoir chronicles Devaney’s battle with ulcerative colitis, from her initial diagnosis to the surgery removing […]
Lorna Crozier’s latest book, The Book of Marvels, was published this Fall by Greystone Books. Student Jenny Aitken visited Crozier’s cozy office at the University of Victoria to discuss the creation of this new work, which will be launched October 3 , 7:30 p.m. at the UVIC Bookstore. Q: How was it different describing household […]
Witness to a Conga and Other Plays By Stewart Lemoine Newest Press 206 pp; $19.95 Reviewed by Jenny Aitken Stewart Lemoine’s most recent collection of plays demonstrates the comedic timing and wit that earned him the position of resident playwright at the Teatro la Quindicina housed in Edmonton’s Varscona Theatre. Over the past few decades […]
