Three Richly Diverse Canadian Books Top VPL’s One Book, One Vancouver 2008 Shortlist
- The Five Books of Moses Lapinsky by Karen X. Tulchinsky
- Loose End by Ivan E. Coyote
- Soucouyant by David Chariandy
Representing some of today’s best Canadian literature, each book sings with its own unique voice and perspective, revealing stories that are poignantly universal yet at the same time distinctly unique.
Now in its seventh year, One Book, One Vancouver is a book club for the entire city that encourages a culture of reading and discussion in Vancouver by bringing people together around one great book. From May to September, the Library will be hosting a variety of events in appreciation of this year’s chosen title. Programming will also be featured at the Word on the Street Festival in September 2008.
Which book will Vancouver readers be enjoying this summer? The Library will announce its final choice for this year’s city-wide book club on Canada Book Day, Wednesday, April 23.
More information about the One Book, One Vancouver can be found at www.vpl.ca/obov/index.html .
One Book, One Vancouver is an award-winning book club for the entire city, creating a culture of reading and discussion in Vancouver by bringing people together around one great book. The program aims to encourage people to read, increase our sense of community by creating a common topic of conversation and to create opportunities to engage people in reading and discussion about a variety of topics. The 2008 program is presented by Vancouver Public Library with support from Word on the Street and The Vancouver Sun.
Founded in 1869, the Vancouver Public Library is one of Canada's largest library systems, dedicated to meeting the lifelong learning, reading, recreation, and information needs of the people of Vancouver. Each year, the Library’s 22 branches serve over 370,000 patrons, offer over 2.5 million items and countless online resources to the public, and answer more than one million reference questions. In 2006, a record 10 million items were circulated.
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See below, our One Book, One Vancouver 2008 Shortlist Book Descriptions.
One Book, One Vancouver 2008 Shortlist Book Descriptions:
The Five Books of Moses Lapinsky by Karen X. Tulchinsky
Moses Lapinsky is writing the biography of his father Sonny, a famous Jewish-Canadian boxer. As he buries himself in research, Moses is transported back to the pivotal events in his father’s life. In a novel crammed with humour, sorrow, folly, bravery and the richness of everyday life, Tulchinsky traces the remarkable fortunes of the Lapinsky family.
Loose End by Ivan E. Coyote
One of Canada's best storytellers focuses her attention on urban life in the East End of Vancouver, a diverse neighborhood of all types – old, young, gay, straight, white, black, Asian. Full of rich yet plainspoken, honest truths, Coyote presides over this circus of activities with her cool gaze, whether it's trying to impress the woman with the hot tub next door or showing her mother how to use a cordless drill.
Soucouyant by David Chariandy
A soucouyant is an evil spirit in Caribbean folklore and a symbol here of the distant and dimly remembered legacies that continue to haunt the Americas. This extraordinary and luminously poetic first novel focuses on a Canadian-born son who despairingly abandons his Caribbean-born mother suffering from dementia. He returns after two years to confront his mother but also a young woman who now mysteriously occupies the house.
