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Switchbacks: true stories from the Canadian Rockies
By Sid Marty. 1999
Sid Marty presents a collection of true Rock Mountain tales drawn on his own memories and those of friends and…
former colleagues. Among his subjects are: the old guide who built a staircase up a cliff; the stranded snowshoer who was rescued between rounds of beer in a Banff tavern; the man who catered to hungry grizzlies; an opinionated packrat with a gift for larceny; and a horse named Candy whose heart was as big as a stove. 1999.Survival in Auschwitz: the Nazi assault on humanity
By Primo Levi. 1996
In 1943, Primo Levi, a twenty-five-year-old chemist and "Italian citizen of Jewish race" was arrested by Italian fascists and deported…
from his native Turin to Auschwitz. This is his account of his ten months in the German death camp, of systematic cruelty and miraculous endurance. Included is a conversation between Philip Roth and Primo Levi never before published in book form. Descriptions of violence. 1996. Uniform title: Se questo è un uomo.Shadow of the Ripper
By Patrick Lavelle. 2003
It was the biggest, most costly hoax of the 20th century, the results of which were wasted lives, money and…
police resources. In the midst of the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper, police were thrown off the scent by an elaborate hoax. This book examines the massive police hunt for the man who became known as "Wearside Jack". It reveals the various theories about the identity of Wearside Jack, his probable motive for the hoax and the unusual series of events that took police away from the trail of arguably Britain's worst serial killer. 2003.Strange ghosts: essays
By Darren Greer. 2006
From baseball to Picasso, Oscar Wilde to Tennessee Williams, post-modernism to American foreign policy, these essays are a mix of…
polemic, politics, memoir, travelogue, and literary theory. Greer relates how his mother's obsession with baseball is overshadowed by her distaste for the American invasion of Iraq, and in some travel essays, he recounts being in India during the height of the Pakistan nuclear crisis, his conversations with monks in Cambodia, and his spiritual revelations in Venice. Some strong language. Some descriptions of sex. Some descriptions of violence. c2006.Stet: a memoir
By Diana Athill. 2001
For nearly five decades Diana Athill helped shape some of the finest books in modern literature. She edited (and nursed…
and coerced and coaxed) some of the most celebrated writers in the English language. The word 'stet' is an instruction on corrected proofs sent to a printer, meaning 'let the original stand'. This candid memoir writes 'stet' against the pleasures, intrigues and complexities of her life spent among authors and manuscripts. 2001.Somewhere towards the end: A Memoir
By Diana Athill. 2009
Diana Athill made her reputation as a writer with the candour of her memoirs. Now aged ninety, and freed from…
any inhibitions that even she may once have had, she reflects frankly on the losses and occasionally the gains that old age brings, and on the wisdom and fortitude required to face death. This is a lively narrative of events, lovers and friendships: the people and experiences that have taught her to regret very little, to resist despondency and to question the beliefs and customs of her own generation. 2009.Stories about storytellers: publishing Alice Munro, Robertson Davies, Alistair MacLeod, Pierre Trudeau, and others
By Anthony Jenkins, Douglas Gibson. 2011
An autobiography that reviews the author’s accomplishments working - and playing - alongside some of Canada’s greatest writers. Relates the…
projects he brainstormed for writer Barry Broadfoot, how he convinced eventual Nobel Prize contender Alice Munro to keep writing short stories, his early morning phone call from a former Prime Minister, and his recollection of yanking a manuscript right out of Alistair MacLeod’s own reluctant hands, which ultimately garnered MacLeod one of the world’s most prestigious prizes for fiction. Provides an inside view of Canadian publishing that is rarely revealed. Some strong language. 2011.Shirley, goodness & mercy: a childhood memoir
By Chris Wyk. 2005
Despite van Wyk's later becoming involved in the anti-apartheid 'struggle', this is not a book about racial politics. Instead, it…
is a delightful account of one boy's special relationship with the relatives, friends and neighbours - often decidedly quirky - who made up his community, and of the important coping role laughter and humour played during the years he spent in bleak, dusty townships. In the book, the author creates a remarkable record of life in the Coloured community, at once both informative and vastly entertaining. 2005.Something in the blood: the untold story of Bram Stoker, the man who wrote Dracula
By David J Skal. 2016
Bram Stoker, despite having a name nearly as famous as his legendary undead Count, has remained a puzzling enigma. Skal…
exhumes the inner world and strange genius of the writer who conjured an undying cultural icon. Stoker was inexplicably paralyzed as a boy, and his story unfolds against a backdrop of Victorian medical mysteries and horrors: cholera and famine fever, childhood opium abuse, frantic bloodletting, mesmeric quack cures, and the gnawing obsession with "bad blood" that informs every page of Dracula. Stoker's ambiguous sexuality is explored through his lifelong acquaintance and romantic rival, Oscar Wilde. The psychosexual dimensions of Stoker's passionate youthful correspondence with Walt Whitman, his punishing work ethic, and his slavish adoration of the actor Sir Henry Irving are examined in splendidly gothic detail. 2016.Something to declare: Essays
By Julia Alvarez. 1998
Alvarez, the author of "How the Garcia girls lost their accents" and other works, reminisces about her childhood in the…
Dominican Republic and her family's escape to New York City. Also describes how she became an author and how to experience the writing life. 1998.Simon Wiesenthal: a life in search of justice
By Hella Pick. 1996
This account describes how Wiesenthal survived World War II concentration camps and then devoted his life to bringing Nazi war…
criminals to justice. Details his work on the Eichmann case and many others. Since 1945 Wiesenthal has lived in Austria and focussed on its denazification. 1996.Small beneath the sky: a prairie memoir
By Lorna Crozier. 2009
Poet Crozier vividly depicts her hometown of Swift Current, with its one main street, two high schools, and three beer…
parlours - where her father spent most of his evenings. She writes unflinchingly about the grief and shame caused by poverty and alcoholism, while at the heart of the book is her fierce love for her mother, Peggy. The narratives of daily life - sometimes funny, sometimes heartbreaking - are interspersed with prose poems. Some strong language. 2009.Stolen from our embrace: the abduction of First Nations children and the restoration of aboriginal communities
By Suzanne Fournier, Ernie Crey. 1997
Describes the treatment of aboriginal children in Canada who were taken to live in residential schools. The story is told…
using interviews and anecdotes shared by those who attended the schools. The current state of aboriginal affairs is also discussed. 1997.Shirley Jackson: a rather haunted life
By Ruth Franklin. 2016
Still known to millions only as the author of the "The Lottery," Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) remains curiously absent from the…
American literary canon. A genius of literary suspense, Jackson plumbed the cultural anxiety of postwar America better than anyone. Biographer Ruth Franklin reveals the tumultuous life and inner darkness of the author behind such classics as 'The Haunting of Hill House' and 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle'. Placing Jackson within an American gothic tradition of Hawthorne and Poe, Franklin demonstrates how her unique contribution to this genre came from her focus on "domestic horror" drawn from an era hostile to women. With its exploration of astonishing talent shaped by a damaged childhood and a troubled marriage, this is the definitive biography of a generational avatar and an American literary giant. Winner of the 2017 Edgar Award for best critical / biography book. 2016.Storyteller: the authorized biography of Roald Dahl
By Donald Sturrock. 2010
Biography of writer Roald Dahl (1916-1990), author of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (DC00453). Chronicles Dahl's English boarding-school education; World…
War II service that involved aerial combat and espionage; and family tragedies, including the death of his daughter Olivia and his first wife Patricia Neal's stroke. 2010.Stolen life: the journey of a Cree woman
By Yvonne Johnson, Rudy Wiebe. 1998
Rudy Wiebe collaborates with Yvonne Johnson, a great-great-granddaughter of Cree Chief Big Bear, to tell the story of her life.…
Born in Montana with a double-cleft palate, she experienced a life of physical and sexual abuse, and slid into alcoholism before participating in the murder for which she is now in prison. Strong language, descriptions of violence, descriptions of sexual violence. 1998.Stephen Leacock (Extraordinary Canadians)
By John Ralston Saul, Margaret MacMillan. 2009
Macmillan has great affection for Leacock's gentle wit and sharp-eyed insight. The renowned historian examines Leacock's life as a poor…
but ambitious student who rose to become an economist, celebrated academic, and, most importantly, the beloved humourist who taught Canadians to laugh at themselves. c2009.Stolen continents: the new world through Indian eyes since 1492
By Ronald Wright. 1992
Speaking our truth: a journey of reconciliation
By Monique Gray Smith. 2017
Canada's relationship with its Indigenous people has suffered as a result of both the residential school system and the lack…
of understanding of the historical and current impact of those schools. Healing and repairing that relationship requires education, awareness and increased understanding of the legacy and the impacts still being felt by Survivors and their families. Guided by Indigenous author Monique Gray Smith, readers will learn about the lives of Survivors and listen to allies who are putting the findings of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission into action. For senior high readers. 2017.Sophia Tolstoy: a biography
By Alexandra Popoff. 2010
As Leo Tolstoy's wife, Sophia Tolstoy experienced both glory and condemnation during their forty-eight-year marriage. Drawing on newly available archival…
material, including Sophia's unpublished memoir, Alexandra Popoff presents a dramatically different and accurate portrait of the woman and the marriage. Some descriptions of sex. c2010.