Authors: Michel Roy.
Hardcover, 416 pages
Publisher: Wiley
Publication Date: 2008-10-10


Reviews :

   

The bestselling bio of NHL Hall-of-Famer Patrick Roy--now in a new English-language edition

Published in Canada in November 2007, the French-language version of this book, Le Guerrier, became an instant hit, quickly selling out its first print run. For fans of Patrick Roy, the legendary NHL goalie, the book provided the first truly intimate, no-holds-barred look at the early life and meteoric rise of their hero, told from a unique perspective: his father's. Written by Michel Roy, himself an impassioned hockey fan, Patrick Roy offers keen insights on Patrick's indomitable will to win, how he revolutionized goaltending and popularized the butterfly style, as well as his faults and difficulties, including the heartbreaking move from Montreal that nearly broke his spirit.

Michel Roy (Knowlton, QC, Canada) is an author and Chair of Telefilm Canada. He is a former film editor, was Deputy Minister of Tourism for Quebec, and has recently produced two jazz albums....

Authors: Eric Sevareid.
Paperback, 248 pages
Publisher: Borealis Books
Publication Date: 2005-04-15
Edition: Revised

Reviews :

    ...

Authors: Ron Stob. Eva Stob.
Paperback, 304 pages
Publisher: Raven Cove Publishing
Publication Date: 2003-06-01
Edition: Revised

Reviews :

    This is the story of a couple's travels on a forty-foot trawler cruising 6300 miles and 145 locks around the eastern part of North America known as America's Great Loop or the Great Circle Cruise. Their nautical ineptitude is evident from the beginning, but pulling from their personal and collective strengths, the authors overcome doubt, a lack of experience, and real and imagined horrors. The odyssey is told the way life hands out its adventures -- sometimes humorously, sometimes tragically, but always memorably. The writing is light and appealing, but there is a serious strain running through the book for those who relish history and descriptions of the landscape. Astute and attentive to detail, they chronicled events and kept an account of expenses, equipment and charting. As a result, the appendix/guidebook is worth the price of the book for anyone interested in planning their cruise. Topics include necessary charts and guidebooks, information on locks, sett! ing an itinerary, resource addresses and websites, details on equipment and the best place to be educated about boating. The book has full-color inserts with black and white photographs interspersed throughout....

Authors: Ted Kerasote.
Hardcover, 160 pages
Publisher: Voyageur Press
Publication Date: 2004-04-17


Reviews :

    WINNER, 2004 NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARD! (Outdoor Literature)

In today’s high-tech world, getting away from the stresses of everyday life can be tricky. Cell phones, palm pilots, and laptop computers allow you to be wired-in from pretty much anywhere. But Ted Kerasote wanted none of that. He wanted a chance to disconnect from the buzz and grind of the wired world. And what better way to do that than to head to the far reaches of Canada’s Northwest Territories for a canoe trip through 400 miles of wilderness.

Or so he thought. Much to Ted’s chagrin, his friend and traveling companion, Len, brings a satellite phone along on the journey, ostensibly in case of emergency. Throughout the trip, however, Len uses the phone simply to touch base with family, friends, and the office—undermining their sense of being "Out There."

"Out There: In the Wild in a Wired Age" is Kerasote’s entertaining account of this journey down the Horton River toward the Arctic Ocean, through a stunning landscape of tundra and varied wildlife. Between navigating rapids, staying warm and dry in rainstorms, and avoiding grizzly bears, Ted and Len discuss the meaning of life, love, and solitude in a wired age....

Authors: Gregory Levey.
Hardcover, 288 pages
Publisher: Free Press
Publication Date: 2008-04-22
Edition: 1

Reviews :

    Shut Up, I'm Talking is a smart, hilarious insider take on Israeli politics that reads like the bastard child of Thomas Friedman and David Sedaris. Now a political writer for Salon, Gregory Levey stumbled into a job as speechwriter for the Israeli delegation to the United Nations at age twenty-five and suddenly found himself, like a latter-day Zelig, in the company of foreign ministers, U.S. senators, and heads of state. Much to his surprise, he was soon attending U.N. sessions and drafting official government statements. The situation got stranger still when he was transferred to Jerusalem to write speeches for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

Shut Up, I'm Talking is a startling account of Levey's journey into the nerve center of Middle Eastern politics at one of the most turbulent times in Israeli history. During his three years in the Israeli government, the Second Intifada continued on in fits and starts, Yasser Arafat died, Hamas came to power, and Ariel Sharon fell into a coma. Levey was repeatedly thrust into highly improbable situations -- from being the sole "Israeli" delegate (even though he's Canadian) at the U.N. General Assembly, with no idea how "his" country wanted to vote; to nearly inciting an international incident with his high school French translation of an Arab diplomat's anti-Israel remarks; to communicating with Israeli intelligence about the suspected perpetrators of suicide bombings; to being offered leftover salami from Ariel Sharon's lunch. As Levey got better acquainted with the personalities in the government's inner sanctum, he witnessed firsthand the improvisational and ridiculously casual nature of the country's behind-the-scenes leadership -- and realized that he wasn't the only one faking his way through politics.

With sharp insight and great appreciation for the absurd, Levey offers the first-ever look inside Israel's politics from the perspective of a complete outsider, ultimately concluding that the Israeli government is no place for a nice Jewish boy....

Authors: Paul Watson.
Paperback, 256 pages
Publisher: Firefly Books
Publication Date: 2003-02-01


Reviews :

    Captain Paul Watson has rammed fishing trawlers, smashed whaling ships, sailed boldly into Soviet-controlled waters, and stood bravely on an ice floe between a baby harp seal and an oncoming seal boat. In this daring and sprawling memoir, the captain of the Sea Shepherd recounts his remarkable life on the front lines in the war to stop the viscious slaughter of the Canadian harp seal.

Seal Wars opens in 1996 with Paul Watson -- holed up in a hotel with Martin Sheen in the Magdalen Islands and facing an attacking mob of angry sealers -- being rescued by police and airlifted to safety. Watson recounts the childhood experiences that shaped his adult consciousness and environmental ethic. He records a history of the seal hunt (including all the tragedies, brutalities, and government mismanagement and obfuscation) from its beginning up to the rescue campaigns he courageously led from the prow of the Sea Shepherd.

Starting in 1976 with a Greenpeace crew off Labrador, Paul Watson has braved numerous forays onto the ice floes, many with such celebrities as Brigitte Bardot, Farley Mowat, Martin Sheen, and Pierce Brosnan. He has served time in prison, debated politicians, and quite often put his life on the line. In a passionate defense of environmental responsibility, Seal Wars guides us through the highs and lows, the defeats and successes of Watson's untiring devotion to this noble cause....

Authors: Lael Morgan.
Paperback, 352 pages
Publisher: Epicenter Press
Publication Date: 2003-06-01
Edition: 2nd

Reviews :

    Morgan offers an authentic and deliciously humorous account of the prostitutes and other "disreputable" women who were the earliest female pioneers of the Far North....

Authors: Susur Lee. Jacob Richler. Sara Angel.
Hardcover, 256 pages
Publisher: Ten Speed Press
Publication Date: 2005-10


Reviews :

    Over the past decade, Toronto-based chef Susur Lee has built an international reputation with his groundbreaking cuisine, winning raves such as "culinary genius" from critics and chefs alike. Borrowing heavily from French and Chinese traditions, Susur defies the ubiquitous "fusion" label with his wholly original and decidedly bold style of cooking, dubbed nouvelle Chinois. SUSUR: A CULINARY LIFE offers readers an intimate look at the evolution of this master chef. Toronto food writer Jacob Richler takes us on an enthralling culinary odyssey that begins with Susur’s apprenticeship at Hong Kong’s legendary Peninsula Hotel and follows the chef ’s major Successes at his award-winning restaurants Lotus and Susur. This in-depth study also chronicles Susur’s ambitious plan to modernize the ancient repertoire of classical Chinese cooking —a 5,000-year journey that ends in the creation of his vibrant new cuisine. A remarkable subject deserves a remarkable book, and SUSUR is as innovative as the chef it celebrates. Two colorful, gorgeously illustrated volumes — one describing Susur ’s development as a chef, the other featuring his most sought-after recipes —are bound together in an intricate and innovative presentation that resembles a Chinese puzzle box. A sensuous treat for foodies and chefs alike, SUSUR is the definitive word on this cutting-edge chef....

Authors: Farley Mowat.
Paperback, 376 pages
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Publication Date: 2007-09-18
Edition: Reprint

Reviews :

    In 1957, Farley Mowat shipped out aboard one of Newfoundland’s famous coastal steamers, tramping from outport to outport along the southwest coast. The indomitable spirit of the people and the bleak beauty of the landscape would lure him back again and again over the years. In the process of falling in love with a people and a place, Mowat also met the woman who would be the great love of his life.

A stunningly beautiful and talented young artist, Claire Wheeler insouciantly climbed aboard Farley’s beloved but jinxed schooner as it lay on the St. Pierre docks, once again in a cradle for repairs, and changed both their lives forever. This is the story of that love affair, of summers spent sailing the Newfoundland coast, and of their decision to start their life together in Burgeo, one of the province’s last remaining outports. It is also an unforgettable portrait of the last of the outport people and a way of life that had survived for centuries but was now passing forever.

Affectionate, unsentimental, this is a burnished gem from an undiminished talent.

I was inside my vessel painting the cabin when I heard the sounds of a scuffle nearby. I poked my head out the companionway in time to see a lithesome young woman swarming up the ladder which leaned against Happy Adventure’s flank. Whining expectantly, the shipyard dog was endeavouring to follow this attractive stranger. I could see why. As slim and graceful as a ballet dancer (which, I would later learn, was one of her avocations), she appeared to be wearing a gleaming golden helmet (her own smoothly bobbed head of hair) and was as radiantly lovely as any Saxon goddess. I invited her aboard, while pushing the dog down the ladder.

“That’s only Blanche,” I reassured my visitor. “He won’t bite. He’s just, uh . . . being friendly.”

“That’s nice to know,” she said sweetly. Then she smiled . . . and I was lost.
–From Bay of Spirits


From the Hardcover edition....

Authors: Laura Beatrice Berton.
Paperback, 231 pages
Publisher: Harbour Publishing
Publication Date: 2005-05-09


Reviews :

    In 1907, Laura Beatrice Berton, a 29-year-old kindergarten teacher, left her comfortable life in Toronto Ontario to teach in a Yukon mining town. She fell in love with the North--and with a northerner--and made Dawson City her home for the next 25 years. "I Married the Klondike" is her classic and enduring memoir.
When she first arrived by steamboat in Dawson City, Berton expected to find a rough mining town full of grizzled miners, scarlet-clad Mounties and dance-hall girls. And while these and other memorable characters did abound, she quickly discovered why the town was nicknamed the "Paris of the North." Although the gold rush was over, the townsfolk still clung to the lavishness of the city's golden era and the young teacher soon found herself hosting tea parties once a month, attending formal dinners, dancing the minuet at fancy balls and going on elaborate sleighing parties. In the background a famous poet wrote ballads on his cabin wall, an archbishop lost on the tundra ate his boots to survive and men living on dreams of riches grew old panning the creeks for gold.
While thousands of people left the Klondike each October on the "last boat out" and Dawson City slowly decayed around her, the author remained true to her northern home. Humorous, poignant and filled with stories of both drudgery and decadence, "I Married the Klondike" is an unforgettable book by a brave and intelligent woman.
"I have read many books on the Yukon, but this is different. It is the gallant personality of the author which shines on every page, and makes her chronicle a saga of the High North."
--Robert Service, poet "The Cremation of Sam McGee"...