Memoir & Biography

A Matter of Principle

Spoiler alert: Conrad Black and Henry Kissinger are on speaking terms again. Or, as Black puts it in his overwrought and self-indulgent memoir/600-page revenge fantasy, they “settled back into the frequent telephone and dinner conversations ... Read More »

November 22, 2011 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

Walk Like a Man: Coming of Age with the Music of Bruce Springsteen

By Robert J. Wiersema

In Thomas Zimny’s 2010 documentary film, The Promise, Bruce Springsteen said that his 1978 album, Darkness on the Edge of Town, was an attempt to answer the question: how is it possible to live a ... Read More »

October 25, 2011 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

Stories about Storytellers: Publishing Alice Munro, Robertson Davies, Alistair MacLeod, Pierre Trudeau and Others

By Douglas Gibson

If you have ever wondered about the personalities of some of this country’s most prolific authors, journalists, and power brokers, or hope to join the chattering classes, Douglas Gibson can help. The iconic Canadian publisher, ... Read More »

September 26, 2011 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, Memoir & Biography

Taking My Life

By Jane Rule

In 2008, the year following the death, at 76, of Jane Rule, an academic named Linda M. Morra made a startling discovery. Among the late author’s papers at the University of British Columbia, she found ... Read More »

August 2, 2011 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

Under an Afghan Sky: A Memoir of Captivity

By Mellissa Fung

Tales of arbitrary detention during the “war on terror” abound, with a growing number of memoirs by those who, while either covering the conflict or trying to mitigate its worst effects, have fallen victim to ... Read More »

July 26, 2011 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

Campie

By Barbara Stewart

In this new memoir, Barbara Stewart recalls a time in her life when she could not get much lower, financially or emotionally. After declaring bankruptcy, Stewart is forced to start over at age 48 working ... Read More »

July 26, 2011 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

Captivity: 118 Days in Iraq and the Struggle for a World Without War

By James Loney

In this new memoir, James Loney, a Toronto-based peace activist and writer, recounts the circumstances of his widely publicized 2005 kidnapping in Iraq. A member of Christian Peacemaker Teams, Loney was snatched along with three ... Read More »

July 26, 2011 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

Edith Sitwell: Avant-Garde Poet, English Genius

By Richard Greene

It’s not uncommon for a literary biographer to follow his or her biography with an edition of the subject’s letters. Richard Greene of the University of Toronto has done the reverse. His Selected Letters of ... Read More »

July 26, 2011 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

Tommy Douglas

By Vincent Lam

Ask any patriotic Canadian what this country’s greatness is based on, and you’re liable to receive two responses: hockey and health care. New instalments of Penguin Canada’s Extraordinary Canadians titles (which comprise two of the ... Read More »

July 26, 2011 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography