Quill and Quire

BOOK REVIEWS

Selected Blackouts

By John Goldbach

One of the greatest illusory effects in literature was achieved by Ernest Hemingway, who likened his writing to the dignified movement of an iceberg, the critical mass of which remains concealed from sight. His prose ... Read More »

August 11, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

The Tiger Warrior

By Dave Gibbins

Any summary of The Tiger Warrior, marine archaeologist David Gibbins’ fourth thriller featuring Jack Howard (also a marine archaeologist), will inevitably make the book sound more exciting than it actually is. The story centres on ... Read More »

August 11, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Sundre

By Christopher Willard

Christopher Willard’s second novel is a significant departure from his 2005 fiction debut. Whereas Garbage Head satirized celebrity culture, telecommunications, and the absurdities of postmodernity, Sundre deals in shotguns, combines, and pick-up trucks. Composed of ... Read More »

August 11, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Boldface Names

By Shinan Govani

National Post gossip columnist Shinan Govani follows the time-honoured advice “write what you know” in his fiction debut, a novel that traces the adventures of a Toronto-based gossip columnist (he prefers the designation “social archivist”) ... Read More »

August 10, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Goya’s Dog

By Damian Tarnopolsky

Celebrated English abstract painter and writer Wyndham Lewis once described Second World War Toronto as a “sanctimonious icebox.” In the acknowledgements for Goya’s Dog, Damian Tarnopolsky cites Lewis as an inspiration for his first novel. ... Read More »

July 20, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Wife’s Tale

By Lori Lansens

In their introduction to The Oprah Affect, a collection of essays that analyze the impact of Oprah’s Book Club on popular and literary culture, editors Jaime Harker and Cecilia Konchar Farr argue there’s nothing new ... Read More »

July 6, 2009 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels