Kathleen Molloy

One of the benefits of rubbing elbows with local authors is the opportunity to scoop the big-name publishing houses. I’ve selected 2 more west Quebec authors on my list for the 2nd Canadian Book Challenge and I have some neat news for readers.

Phil Jenkins has added a chapter to An Acre of Time and rereleased it, bringing the history of Le Breton Flats to real time. Pierre-Charles Généreux has been shopping around L’imprévisible trajectoire des assassins and may find himself smack dab in a bidding war.

I hope to take one of these gentlemen along on my vacation up Baie Comeau way. It’s going to be a hard choice…

L’imprévisible trajectoire des assassins

Pierre-Charles Généreux

L’ingénieur Jean-François Vidal et le dentiste Pierre-Luc Charlebois nous parlent de leurs vies linéaires, harassantes et apparemment sans issue. Conséquence d’une incroyable suite d’événements, leurs existences vont s’entremêler et prendre un tournant dramatique. Partis sans bagages pour un voyage qui les mènera de Montréal à Calgary, ils vont s’arracher la peau et renaître dans la douleur. Lors d’un week-end pascal funeste et sanglot ou tout va basculer, les deux hommes vont prendre la mesure de l’irréparable. Ils seront lancés sur la route pour tenter d’échapper aux machinations du destin. L’ennui, la désillusion, la peur, l’amour, l’horreur…C’est l’imprévisible trajectoire des assassins.

An Acre of Time

Phil Jenkins

Where is here? That question, Nothrop Frye believed, was the key to the Canadian identity, the secret of our collective psyche. For Phil Jenkins, “here” is a single acre on Le Breton Flats, in Ottawa. In this strikingly inventive book, he stakes out that acre and recounts its life story. He rides a glass elevator up from the earth’s core, describing the geological strata he passes through before reaching the surface. He watches the land submerge beneath the salt water that rises as high as the tallest skyscraper, a place where, ten thousand years ago, whales cavorted. He climbs a pine tree to watch Champlain paddle up the Ottawa River, intent on converting the native Algonquins and claiming the acre for France. He walks down Duke Street in the early part of this century and reports in detail the on the busy community he finds there. He stands on the desolate acre, expropriated by the federal government and then left in bureaucratic limbo, studying its endangered flora, fauna and future.

Quill and Quire, who is it written for? I subscribe to Quill and Quire. It took me a long time to take a subscription, years and year in fact, but eventually I figured it would be a good resource and teach me a little something about the book industry in Canada. From every issue I do learn a little something. This is what I’ve learned from my short-lived subscription:

• I learned that Q and Q loves to interview award winners (see the latest cover shot of Hage and a previous cover with Paul Q.);
• Q and Q  has the absolute inside scoop as to who is doing what to whom and where in this industry (see the little bulletins about what books are optioned in the US and which Wonder-Agent at Agency X snagged the rights to such and such work, and who got promoted, and who got demoted, and and and);
• I learned from the recent industry survey that this industry pays its mid-level decision makers what some industries pay administrative assistants;
• I learned that of the average 40 or so books reviewed in each issue there are rarely more than 5 that receive a favourable review (Q and Q  reviewers elegantly express their disappointment or outright disdain in so many creative ways – awarding the red star of exceptional merit to only a handful of works ); and
• I learned that Quill and Quire reminds me of the clique of cool kids in high school (always the same names, all the same names getting the same books reviewed by the same reviewers…).  

I am so far removed from the clique of cool kids of the Canadian publishing industry that I have to ask myself – if not for industry insiders, who is this mag written for? Is Quill and Quire slapped together for those booklovers that cruise the shelves of their local indie bookstores, book reviews in hand? Not unless readers directly lobby bookstores and publishers. Is it for writers? Not unless writers are expected to circumnavigate the clique of cool kids from inside their circle.  Is it for the account executives working 12 hour days making less than 40K with no thanks and few perks while they try to craft their own novels? Could be, but if they work as much as they claimed in the last industry survey they would never have any time to enjoy it! Quill and Quire calls itself “Canada’s magazine of book news and reviews”. And it is. But I might recommend that they add the tagline “For the Cool Kids”.

Giller Prize-winning author Dr. Vincent Lam will write the new biography of Tommy Douglas. And too many readers are questioning whether he can pull it off. Why?

Let’s look at Lam.
Dr. Lam is well enough versed in the medical field to understand and convey the impact Douglas had on the health of today’s Canadians. Lam, knows what ails us.

We also know that Lam can write. With his Giller winning work Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures he has brought the dirty little bits of emergency room life to life. He has proven that you can write about guts tumbling on the floor and amuse readers in the same breath.

But how will Lam tackle the politics that propelled Douglas into history? Will Penguin allow him to make his own socio-political observations and critiques, or will they force his hand to produce a rosy narrative?

If Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures was a semi autobiographical work, will Lam be able to jump the divide to a purely biographical work? 

I say yes. I say watch him.
I say that Lam will give Douglas a fair and balanced treatment. He very well may introduce us to a Canadian that we would have otherwise taken for granted; a Canadian pioneer championing what we all currently take for granted.

Fresh Sardines, Olive Oil, Salt and Pepper.

Heat a stovetop grill /or BBQ.

 Belimira do Rego’s Portuguese Rice PuddingMaria from Carlsbad Springs Ontario claims that her mom Belimira was the original Bella!

Portuguese rice pudding is prepared like risotto, as in this recipe from Jean Anderson’s “The Food of Portugal” (William Morrow, 1986).

INGREDIENTS:
4 1/2 cups water

1/2 teaspoon salt

Zest of 1 large lemon, cut into strips

2 cups short-grain white rice

4 1/2 to 5 cups scalding hot milk (may be part cream)

3/4 cup sugar

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

4 large egg yolks, lightly beaten

About 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

INSTRUCTIONS:
Bring the water, salt and lemon zest to a boil in a large saucepan; reduce heat so water barely trembles, cover and set aside for 10 minutes; remove and discard the zest. Bring the water to a rolling boil, then stir in the rice. Adjust the heat so the water bubbles gently, and cook the rice uncovered until the water is absorbed, 10 to 15 minutes. Add about 1 cup of the milk, stir gently, adjust the heat so the milk just ripples, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the milk is absorbed, about 10 minutes. Continue to add the milk in stages, allowing the rice to absorb each addition completely before pouring in more. Keep the heat very low and the pan covered, stir the rice now and then, but not too often or it will become gummy. The idea is to let the rice swell and soften, so that the final pudding will be supremely creamy. When you add the last 1/2 to 1 cup milk, also mix in the sugar, butter, egg yolks and 1/2 teaspoon of the cinnamon. Reduce heat to the lowest setting, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the mixture is very creamy and no raw egg flavour remains. Spoon the pudding into a generously buttered shallow 3-quart dish and decorate the top with the remaining cinnamon in an attractive pattern. Chill 1 to 2 hours before serving. Serves 6 to 8
PER SERVING: 330 calories, 8 g protein, 54 g carbohydrate, 9 g fat (5 g saturated), 129 mg cholesterol, 217 mg sodium, 1 g fiber  

I’ve asked readers to submit recipes inspired by Dining with Death. I promised to try them out and post the ones that a kitchen luddite like myself can follow. We’re setting up the recipe section of the website now but in the meantime I will post on this blog the recipes I’ve come to adore. Steal them, adapt them, let me know how your family enjoyed them.

 First up is Carol’s Layers of Comfort aka NACHO DIP À LA MERSu from Russell Ontario sent this. When I made it the lot of 40 shrimp didn’t make it into the bowl. Somehow, they jumped into my mouth. By the time everything was assembled I was a bit short on the À LA MER.

 Step 1:

Mix cream cheese, yogurt, mayo, sour cream, 1 T. salsa and taco seasoning together thoroughly in food processor, blender or with hand mixer.  Spread evenly on bottom of 9″ X 13″ glass baking dish.  Arrange cucumber slices around edge of dish.  Chill in refrigerator while preparing balance of recipe.

Step 2:

Combine chopped green onions and peppers together in medium bowl.  Chill in refrigerator while preparing balance of recipe.

Step 3:

Marinate shrimp in lime juice in refrigerator while preparing balance of recipe.

Step 4:

Combine salsa, cocktail sauce and cilantro in medium bowl.  Chill in refrigerator while preparing balance of recipe.

Step 5:

Grate cheese.  Set aside.

Step 6:

Remove shrimp from fridge.  Discard lime juice marinade.  Remove tails if attached and chop roughly or cut each shrimp into quarters.  Stir into salsa mixture.

Step 7:

Put everything together:  Layer salsa mixture over cream cheese base, layer chopped peppers over salsa, add cheddar on top.  Cover and keep chilled until ready to serve with nacho chips.

I picked up

Falling Angels

Barbara Gowdy

ISBN 0921051409

to add to my box of books for the troops. On the back cover is a smiling Barbara Gowdy. This book was considered for inclusion in the Best AMerican Short Stories in 1989. Looking at the picture from 1989 and comparing it to recent pics — I have to ask if this Canadian author has earned one single wrinkle over the 20 or more years that her work has been enjoyed by Canadians.

Barb, CanLit becomes, ya!

I wonder what Sheila Fischman reads for fun.

I’ve started to read Volkswagen Blues by  Jacques Poulin. Set in the Gaspésie region I’m heading east with Poulin, up and around the hilly roads, out toward to blue water. My memories of my only road trip to Gaspé are blue – the colour blue. Memory plays tricks on us but when I think of this beautiful region in Quebec I think of the colour blue and so many of our family photos feature the coastline villages with the water backdrop. With the except of a few pictures of us standing under wind turbines on wind farms, most of the pictures are of my little family posing at the vast shore. Blue.

I didn’t get far in the book before I flipped it closed to consult the cover. I’m reading the translation by Sheila Fischman.  I’m not sure why I picked up the English instead of the French original. Poulin’s style is fluid and an Anglophone with a fair grasp at French can follow along swimmingly. I don’t know if it is fair to describe his style as old fashion story telling but that is my impression - not too many confilicts, not to much word play, lots of imagery, lots of physical description, slow introduction to the characters who might turn out to be secondary to the facts in the story. The story has a lovely cadence.  Now I have to ask myself: is this because Poulin is a great storyteller or is it because Sheila Fischman is a great storyteller?

You’ll remember Sheila Fischman as the translator that introduced much of Anglo Canada to the works of Roch Carrier, Michel Tremblay, and Anne Hébert. She has shared the voice of over 125 works by Canadian Francophones, in particular Quebecers… with the rest of Canada. In May 2008 Fischman was presented with the Molson Prize recognizing her outstanding lifetime contributions to Canadian cultural. The $50,000 Molson prize will buy her A LOT of books.

I wonder what type of books Sheila Fischman takes to the cottage, curls up by the fire with, and piles beside her bed To Be Read later? On the other hand, maybe Sheila Fischman doesn’t read for pleasure at all. Maybe it feels too much like work.

Maybe she writes. When a translator gets paid to interprete and convey to words of others, are they ever tempted to put pen to paper to craft their own prose?

I’m going to ask my translator Gisèle Lamontagne and my copy editor Josée Prud’homme. While they adapted Dining with Death into La Mort au menu I never once in the entire process asked either of them what it was about their craft that drew them in, enabled them to polish the rough bits so that the diamond sparkled through of any given piece by any author.

How does someone develop the skill to make another artist look good, in a completely different language?

If you see Sheila Fischman at the next awards gala, ask her for me.

Was it last year that Rawi Hage visited Wakefield to read from De Niro’s Game? Readers at Solstice Books were almost embarrassed, almost apologetic, completely gracious of course but all the same a little awestruck until finally one lady asked “Why would you come out to little ol’ Wakefield now that you’re a proper name in CanLit?”  If I remember correctly, he said that the drive from Montreal had been pleasant, that he enjoyed the greenery, and that he loved to go where people loved books.  Will he come back now that he’s a proper internationally recognized writer having won the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award?  I think so.  People still love books in our neighbourhood. And this time, he’ll be able to afford to turn the air condition on for the full 2 hour drive.

I have prepared a box of Canadian books to ship to the MP Anthony Rota that he will then add to the book drive for Canadian troops serving in Afghanistan. Eight of the books are Canadian authors that I listed on Book Crossing and they are now being launched into the wild. The list is below.

I also swiped a few from my beau including a John Irving, a Star Trek Next Generation, 3 Omerta types, and The Portrait of Dorian Gray (in French) that I have struggled through for over 7 years! I’m wild about French but not for Wilde in French.

Send your books to Rota; bibliokarma for the troops.