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The heretic in Darwin's court: the life of Alfred Russel Wallace
By Ross A Slotten. 2004
Physician traces the life of nineteenth-century British naturalist and explorer Alfred Wallace (1823-1913), a colleague of Charles Darwin. Examines Wallace's…
lower-class background, self-education, and socialist views. Discusses his acceptance of spiritualism, environmentalism, and other ideologies scientists typically avoided. Also covers his research travels into dangerous tropical jungles. 2004.The crack in the teacup: the life of an old woman steeped in stories
By Joan Bodger. 2000
Gestalt therapist, story-teller, teacher, writer, children's book editor, director of the first Headstart Program in New York State, Joan Bodger…
is a woman whose life has always been intertwined with stories. Her biography depicts how a life -- and a century -- can be shaped and given meaning by personal mythology, how the power of stories can repair a shattered life. While describing her own life she also includes sharp observations of the nuances of class, racial prejudice, and regional and national differences. Some strong language. 2000.The book of revenge: a blues for Yugoslavia
By Dragan Todorović. 2006
Serb Dragan Todorovic goes to Belgrade as the editor of a cultural magazine, but his constant clashes with the system…
end in his being drafted into the army. Dragan survives his tour of duty, but his return to Belgrade is unsettling - everything is changing, friendships are collapsing, conversations are guarded, and bit by bit, the country he knows and loves is being torn apart. Some strong language. 2006.The bookseller of Kabul
By Åsne Seierstad. 2003
Two weeks after September 11th, award-winning journalist Asne Seierstad went to Afghanistan to report on the conflict there. In the…
following spring she returned to live with an Afghan family for several months. For more than 20 years Sultan Khan defied the authorities - be they Communist or Taliban - in order to supply books to the people of Kabul. He was arrested, interrogated and imprisoned by the Communists, and watched illiterate Taliban soldiers burn piles of his books in the street. But while Khan is passionate in his love of books and hatred of censorship, he is also a committed Muslim with strict views on family life. 2003.Stephen Harper and the future of Canada
By William Johnson. 2005
Chronicles Harper's political beginnings, his stint with the Mulroney Progressive Conservatives, the events that led to him becoming a key…
architect of the Reform party, and his rescue of the Canadian Alliance, which led to the merger with the Progressive Conservatives to create the new Conservative Party. Author Johnson attempts to dispel the myths and set out the facts about the (then) leader of the opposition. Bestseller 2005.Shadow maker: the life of Gwendolyn MacEwen
By Rosemary Sullivan. 1995
Using the personal impressions of the poet's intimate friends, Rosemary Sullivan builds a composite portrait of Gwendolyn MacEwan, the Toronto…
poet who died in 1987 at the age of 46. The daughter of an alcoholic father and mentally ill mother, MacEwen's story is a painful one, yet the richness of her art and inner life redeemed the pain. Winner of the 1995 Governor General's Award for Non-fiction.Remembering Peter Gzowski: a book of tributes
By Edna Barker. 2002
This book is a celebration of Peter Gzowski's life and of the enormous role he played in Canadian life. It…
collects tributes from friends and colleagues, and from grieving strangers who had been touched by him in one of the roles that provide us with the chapters in this book: as a writer in newspapers, magazines, or books; as a radio broadcaster; on camera; as a lover of Canada; and as a father, relative, or trusted friend. 2002.Raymond Chandler: a biography
By Tom Hiney. 1997
Chandler created the famous fictional detective Philip Marlowe, whose many investigations in print also made it to the big screen.…
Chandler's own life was centred around his wife Cissy, 18 years his senior. After she died, he embarked on a manic globe-trotting spree that was risky and peppered with chance encounters. 1997.Prisoner of Tehran: a memoir
By Marina Nemat. 2007
The author recalls her life as a Christian in Iran. Discusses her childhood, her two-year internment in Ayatollah Khomeini's prison…
from age sixteen, and her rescue by her interrogator, Ali. Covers her marriage to Ali, his death, and Nemat's emigration to Canada. Some descriptions of sex. Descriptions of violence. Some strong language. Canada Reads 2012. 2007.Paul Martin: the power of ambition
By John Gray. 2003
Traces the course of Paul Martin's early life and his success in business, as well as the partnership and split…
between him and Jean Chrétien. Six months after he left business for politics, he announced that he would be a candidate for the leadership of the Liberal party. His reach for the leadership in 1990 was a failure, but Martin still appears destined to be the 21st prime minister of Canada. 2003.Paper shadows: a Chinatown childhood
By Wayson Choy. 1999
This is a memoir of the author's childhood days in Vancouver's Chinatown, during the 1930s and 1940s. He is able…
to piece together deeply held family secrets that came from China in the form of "paper shadows." With an engaging style, he reveals the link between these secrets and his own life. Some strong language. Canada Reads 2012. 1999.On six continents: a life in Canada's foreign service, 1966-2002
By James Bartleman. 2004
From his humble origins as an Aboriginal child whose first home was a tent near a dump in Muskoka, Ontario,…
Bartleman rose to become a legend in Canada's foreign service. He served as ambassador to Cuba, Israel, South Africa, and Australia, was Prime Minister Jean Chrétien's foreign policy advisor, and is Ontario's lieutenant-governor and a member of the Order of Canada. 2004.Never retreat, never explain, never apologize: my life, my politics
By Deborah Grey. 2004
Starting as a teacher in rural Alberta, Deborah Grey eventually became the first elected MP of the Reform party, with…
a no-nonsense style, a willingness to praise or criticize her parliamentary colleagues as she saw fit, and a taste for one-liners. In looking back, she discusses her family and faith, while remaining unapologetic in her criticisms of Stockwell Day as Alliance leader and defending the party against accusations of racism. 2004.Lives of mothers & daughters: growing up with Alice Munro
By Sheila Munro. 2001
An intimate biography of Alice Munro. It describes in a way that only a close relative could, the details of…
her family background, from the Laidlaws who left Scotland in the early 19th century, to Alice Munro's birth in 1931, her early years and marriage all the way to the current family. The constant echoes of settings, situations, and characters that occur in her fiction make this an informative commentary to Munro's works.L. M. Montgomery, the creator of Anne of Green Gables and author of more than 20 books, is a household…
name the world over. "Anne of Green Gables" has been translated into 40 different languages and immortalized on film. Montgomery was determined to be a writer, despite the loss of her mother at an early age, her strict and lonely upbringing, and years of doubt and rejection. 2004.Mackenzie: a political biography of William Lyon Mackenzie
By John Sewell. 2002
Mackenzie started out in Scotland, gaining political experience during the 1820 uprisings in Glasgow. Arriving in Canada, he became the…
first mayor of Toronto, and he was also the leader of the Rebellion of 1837. History has often dismissed him as an almost comical figure or else portrayed him as the political pothead who bungled the Rebellion. 2002.Lake of the prairies: a story of belonging
By Warren Cariou. 2002
Cariou's memoir on growing up in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan, where he witnessed the discrimination, anger and fear directed at the…
town's Cree and Métis populations by the European settlers. While he has absorbed these prejudices as his own, he is forced to confront the politics of race as an adult. Then, he discovers secrets that his family had kept hidden for generations, secrets that would alter forever his sense of identity and belonging in Meadow Lake. Winner of the Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize of the 2003 Writers' Trust of Canada Awards. 2002.Jane Austen (A Penguin life)
By Carol Shields. 2001
In this literary biography, writer Carol Shields throws light on the works of the nineteenth-century English novelist, Jane Austen. Discusses…
the private woman, describing the quiet personal life of a "stern moralist" who wrote "marriage novels" but never married. Canada Reads 2012.Inside memory: pages from a writer's workbook
By Timothy Findley. 1990
This collection of essays, journalistic pieces and diary entries provides a glimpse into the mind of author Timothy Findley. He…
describes his unusual research methods and gives his impressions and thoughts about other literary figures. Includes a portion of "Famous last words" which was removed before publication. Some strong language. Bestseller 1991. Nominated for the 1993 Talking Book of the Year Torgi Award.In my own name: a memoir
By Maureen McTeer. 2003
Born and raised in Ottawa, at twenty McTeer was already a seasoned political worker when she went to work for…
Joe Clark. The young M.P. from Alberta was thirteen years her senior, and eventually became her husband in 1973. Maureen McTeer has helped shape and change many aspects of Canadian life with an active political life of her own. 2003.