August 24, 2010
Book Review: Andrew Potter’s The Authenticity Hoax
Sure, it’s easy to be disenchanted with society: its corporate lies, political impotence, and information overload. The hunt for authenticity “has become the spiritual quest of our time,” Andrew Potter, famed co-author of The Rebel Sell, writes in his new book, The Authenticity Hoax. A way to escape all we believe to be fake and wrong is to seek the opposite, something authentic—which somehow... [More >>]
May 28, 2010
Fiction: “Away and Home” by Jonathan Bennett
They gathered, encircling the freshly opened earth where Danny Douglas would soon rest. Who could believe it gone, that smart-alecky grin? Over in the field beyond the yellow-brick church, corn swayed. The sky was a deep gold with wisps of mauve and the mourners’ eyes were downcast. They all wore black. When the formal part ended they could talk. At first, no one much did. “Hey, Al,” whispered... [More >>]
April 19, 2010
The gruesome genius of Michael Ondaatje, destroyer of worlds
Twice over the endless winter of 2007-08, I finished a pleasant-enough telephone conversation with my mother only to have her call me back a couple of minutes later. “I know what I wanted to tell you,” she said both times, “so-and-so died.” The first unfortunate object of forgotten conversation was a dear old great aunt in Vancouver I hadn’t seen in a decade. The second was my childhood family... [More >>]
March 31, 2010
Capturing the Life of Helen Betty Osborne, in words and pictures
November 13, 1971, The Pas, Manitoba. Four young white men drive past Helen Betty Osborne, a 19-year-old Cree girl. They call for her to get in the car and party with them. “I think I heard a yes,” one man taunts. When she refuses, the men pull her into the car and drive off. Flip the page, to illustrated panels showing the RCMP knocking on her mother’s door, about to deliver the news of Osborne’s... [More >>]
March 25, 2010
In some corners of the web, pirates serve as curators of high culture
There’s more to online piracy than Beyoncé singles and porn In some corners of the web, piracy is a form of curation. Illustration by Matt Daley. In the summer of 1999, a terrifying rumour began circulating on the then-young internet, gluing millions to their screens: Napster, the illegal music service, was about to be shut down. It seemed like the party with an endless soundtrack was coming... [More >>]
March 19, 2010
Review: Imagining Toronto by Amy Lavender Harris
Long before communities existed on Facebook, there were tangible places in a city where people with common interests converged. In a place like Toronto, where communities of different cultural groups and ideas form in often isolated pockets, the struggle to define a common identity among them is as old as the city itself. But part of Toronto’s identity crisis is a literary tradition that reaches... [More >>]
March 15, 2010
E-books may be efficient, but they have no sex appeal
In the documentary Helvetica, incensed graphic designer Michael Bierut hilariously critiques ads from old copies of Life Magazine. He attacks the verbosity and shrill insistence of early 1950s Coke ads prior to the introduction of Helvetica then flips admiringly to a minimalist ad set in the new font. Here again is a reminder of how design and material delivery can influence the content of a message.... [More >>]
March 11, 2010
Review: The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book by Gord Hill
In The 500 Years of Resistance Comic Book, Vancouver-based writer Gord Hill blends his visual and literary talents to tell the story of aboriginal life since the arrival of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere in 1492. If the book’s title isn’t enough to tell you what perspective Hill, a member of the Kwakwaka’wakw nation, is taking, the names of the book’s three sections certainly will: Invasion,... [More >>]
February 24, 2010
Review: Dr. Bonnie Henry’s Soap and Water & Common Sense
As the world prepares for H1N1’s much-touted fall resurgence, Dr. Bonnie Henry’s approachable, non-technical guide to flu preparedness fails to deliver on its promise, offering neither protection nor peace of mind. Readers in search of preventative measures won’t find much insight beyond the obvious: wash your hands. True to her title, Dr. Henry, the director of Public Health Emergency Management... [More >>]
February 10, 2010
For artists embedded in Afghanistan, propaganda concerns linger
Sharon McKay in Afghanistan with the Canadian Forces Artist Program. Photo courtesy Sharon McKay. Young-adult novelist Sharon McKay has visited some rough parts of the world in search of material for her stories. When she was writing War Brothers, a book that follows five child soldiers through war-torn Uganda, she travelled to that country to interview kids on the ground. For an upcoming book about... [More >>]
