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LATEST Feature Articles
20 Writerly Questions Series: Andrew Kaufman
by - Monday, March 08, 2010
The "20 Writerly Questions Series" is brought to you courtesy of Random House Canada who partners with BookBuffet. Look for this feature each Monday. The idea is we ask different authors the same set of questions designed to give readers a glimpse into the lives and writing mechanics of authors. It is fascinating to compare and contrast. Today we feature Andrew Kaufman. Check back for upcoming authors: Joy Fielding, Drew Hayden Taylor, and John Boyne.
ANDREW KAUFMAN's critically acclaimed first book, All My Friends Are Superheroes, was a cult hit and has been translated into six languages. Kaufman is also an accomplished screenwriter and has completed a Director's Residency at the Canadian Film Centre. He lives in Toronto with his wife and their two children. His newest novel is The Waterproof Bible.
The Questions:
1. How would you summarize your book in one sentence?
A woman who projects her emotions, a man who meets a woman claiming to be God, and a mermaid driving a stolen Honda Civic are forced to ask themselves which is more important – faith or fact.
2. How long did it take you to write this book? It was a little under seven years. Or, more concretely, when I started I was single and renting a one-bedroom apartment and now I'm married with two kids and a mortgage.
3. Where is your favorite place to write? Beside the stereo. ...More >>
LATEST Author Interviews
Author Podcast: Annabel Lyon
by - Friday, February 12, 2010
The great thing about hosting the Olympics in Whistler, BC Canada this week is that we get to attract stunning literary figures like Annabel Lyon. I couldn't think of a more perfect author to feature this week as Annabel's book, The Golden Mean (published by Random House 2009) is set in 300BC Greece (and Olympia being the birth of the Olympics in 700BC... ) is about the relationship between Aristotle and his royal pupil, Alexander III of Macedon, son of King Philip II of Macedon, or as most of you know him, Alexander the Great. Don't miss this lesson in history and fiction writing as Annabel speaks to the Whistler Reads book group marking their 28th book discussion. Annabel tells us, "I didn't want to write an historic fiction - I wanted to write a modern book set 2300 years ago." This podcast is part of a growing series, the BookBuffet Author Podcast Series, with over 100 segments posted on iTunes and various other podcast aggregators. You get to listen here first! Our downloads average in the hundreds per day, and that bandwidth costs money. Consider making a donation to the site to support our efforts to bring you quality conversations with established and emerging writers. From Nobel prize laureate Orhan Pamuk to triple-prize-nominated Canadian writer Annabel Lyon, we bring you the voices and conversations of select authors that will intrigue and inspire you and your group.
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Feature Articles >>
Whistler's Writer in Residence Program: Get Into The Swing of Things
by
Friday, March 05, 2010
Each year the Whistler Writers Group offers a Writer in Residence Program for the full month of September. Twenty successful applicants who have submitted a writing sample and paid the modest $250 fee have the opportunity to attend both the group sessions and four one-on-one mentoring sessions with an established writer. The guest author gets to stay at Station House, a converted building that is owned and operated by the Resort Municipality, which is located in an idyllic, quiet location on the opposite side of Alta Lake across from the Whistler village, the ski hills and the hubbub of busy tourist activities. The fee does not include accommodation, but that's the fun part. Whistler has everything from five-star hotels like the Four Seasons to quaint Bavarian style B&B's, or if you are really on a budget, perhaps you can score one of the 101 rooms at the new 2010 Olympic Athlete Village Youth Hostel? Distractions from your homework include world class golf (3 courses in as many miles), hiking (take the new Peak 2 Peak tram and cover two mountains in one day), mountain biking (boasting the world's largest network of trails and the world's largest non profit rider's association to take you there), and then there's the village patio dining and bistro experiences and plenty of shopping. You'd better pack a whack of outdoor gear in addition to your laptop and that sharp pencil! The Whistler writers group, called Vicious Circle was launched in 2001 by Stella Harvey. It has a core of committed members who help with the organizing and creative spirit. They meet regularly throughout the year to critique each other's writing - so they can't be all that vicious. Check out their just-released video of the writer in residence program posted on the group website. www.viciouscircle.ca It's the work of Rebecca Wood Barrett and Duane Hepditch. Past writer in residence authors include: 2009 Wayne Grady and Merylin Simons; 2008 Jane Dorsey; 2007 Paulette Bourgeois. The 2010 author has not yet been announced, but counting from March to September gives you six months to work on your writing, and polish a short piece consisting of 20 double spaced pages for the submission deadline. Then plan to drop everything and come hang-out in Whistler this September. Contact Stella Harvey: stella25@telus.net. PHOTO: Alta Lake Rope Swing
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Book Reviews >>
Why Women Have Sex
by
Monday, December 14, 2009
Sex holds a universal fascination. From our basic limbic drive of "preservation of self and species" to the furthest extremes of sexual practice, everyone wants to know how it works and where they fit into the spectrum. Starting from our first sexual stirring and tracking behavior to the oldest fornicators, researchers are gathering information to determine what stimulates our sex drive, the mind-body connection and social-cultural differences for normal and abnormal behavior. In 1998 when Viagara came on the market for men, the push was on to discover the pink pill equivalent for women. Female sexuality, these studies show, is even more complex and nuanced than male sexuality. Researchers Cindy M. Meston and David M. Buss, both psychology professors at the University of Texas at Austin discovered some fascinating new information, which is contained in Why Women Have Sex: Understanding Sexual Motivations from Adventure to Revenge (and Everything in Between). I am particularly interested to read the section talking about the sex practices of young women today. What are these third generation feminists up to? You'd be surprised to see the frank level of experimentation and use of sex, almost as a tool in their armanentarium to get what they want. Seems like a good book to purchase for anyone who wants to understand the sexuality of women better. (Uh... who doesn't that include?)
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Publisher News >>
GRANTA Turns 30
by
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Granta magazine is a literary quarterly from the UK that is turning 30 this year, and they’re asking you to help them celebrate by purchasing a subscription to GRANTA. Digital subscriptions fees have been wound back to 1979 for an annual cost of £3.50 – so there’s no excuse no matter where in the world you live. What’s inside?
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Whistler Reads >>
Whistler Reads Next Discussion is May 1st: Food Rules by Michael Pollan
by
Saturday, March 06, 2010
Like you I was impressed by our nation's response to the 2010 Olympics - not just in the host cities of Vancouver and Whistler but from coast to coast to coast. Our athletes, their parents and coaches, and the people who helped fund the athletics are to be congratulated. Canada won an unprecedented number of medals. Regardless of your thoughts on the "own the podium" mantra, we also won the most gold between countries. Delirious spectators dressed in red and white hockey jerseys and all manner of Olympic swag broke into spontaneous choruses of the national anthem everywhere. Canadian flags now adorn porches and house windows, and flutter on the sides of cars confirming that a new era of uncharacteristic patriotism has swept this country. Now is the time to harness the post-Olympic spirit, take that unity of purpose and apply it toward a common goal. Let's encourage each and every Canadian to a higher standard of health and fitness. The shocking fact is that Canadians, like our neighbors to the south, are victims of a national epidemic of obesity. A full 60% of people are overweight or obese. We eat too much (of the wrong foods) and exercise too little. The biggest tragedy is that our youth are suffering the worst from this trend, to the extent that a new precedent will be set: children today will live shorter lives than their parents. How is that? Childhood diabetes is becoming more common, as is the incidence of other obesity related diseases: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and hormone related cancers. This leads to heart attacks and strokes, which negates the progress made by those who quit smoking. The health care system cannot support this self-inflicted epidemic - YES - it is self-inflicted. If you look at pre-World War II weight statistics when fast food outlets and energy saving devices did not abound, the statics were closer to normal for the majority of people of all ages. This epidemic if unchecked, will bankrupt our health care system and force changes upon us as a nation that we consider a cornerstone of "Canadianism". Do you want to be known as a nation of fat, sedentary people? I think not. Canadians mistakenly believe we are fitter and slimmer than our American neighbors. It's time to face the truth. A group of locals will be unveiling an initiative shortly. In the spirit of this initiative, Whistler Reads is inspired to do our part to set an example for others. Join WR in a community-wide reading and discussion of food guru Michael Pollan's new book, Food Rules published by Penguin. It's soft cover, it's only 8 bucks and it's widely heralded as a distillation of his enormously popular previous three books on the topic. Let's become a fit and healthy nation. Here are a few of Michael Pollans 64 food rules:
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WGBH Boston >>
Masterpiece: The Diary of Anne Frank
by
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Win a set of books for you book group. Join BookBuffet's Masterpiece Book to Film Group (details below) and tune into WGBH for the latest Classic adaptation for television. Airing April 11th on Masterpiece Classic is a brand new production of The Diary of Anne Frank, a story that the world has come to equate with the tyranny of Nazi Germany and its policy of oppression against the Jews and this innocent, independent spirited young woman. The trailer begins, "Anne Frank receives a diary for her thirteenth birthday in June 1942. The following month she and her family go into hiding in the secret annex behind her father's business in Amsterdam to escape the Nazi roundup of Jews. An unusually perceptive writer, Anne records events in the annex over the course of the next two years." Anne Frank is played by Ellie Kendrick. The production was adapted from the diary by Deborah Moggach, produced by Elinore Day and directed by Jon Jones. Watch the trailer. Masterpiece has been presented on PBS by WGBH since 1971. WGBH is one of the nation's top public television and public radio broadcasters; a leading producer of high-quality content for TV, radio, the Internet, and other media; a pioneer in access services for people with disabilities; and the source of educational multimedia used by millions of teachers and students every year. Check out the comprehensive links to information provided here and don't miss the interview with noted writer and one of my favorite literary goddesses, Francine Prose. Read her book, Anne Frank: The Book, The Life, The Afterlife alongside this feature. Video on sale here.
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Wine & Book Club >>
Wine & Book Group Pick for Feb-Mar
by
Thursday, March 11, 2010
"When a major writer emerges, the time for comparison ends, and the time to celebrate begins," so says The National Post about one of Canada's fresh literary voices, Rabindranath Maharaj whose forth novel, The Amazing Absorbing Boy has just been published by Knopf, Canada, 2010. But I can't help compare Maharaj's writing style and subject matter as a cross between Junoz Diaz's The Brief and Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao for its liberal use of foreign slang throughout the book, and Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay for its character's obsession with comic books. It seems many talented writers of this generation refer back to comics as the portal to their protagonist's relationship-slash-coping mechanisms for the real world. It makes me wonder if anyone has ever done a study on the affect that super hero, super powers has on the socio-development of little boys. No one seems to quote Archie. It's always Spider Man, the Incredible Hulk, etc with Hugh Jackman-type actors filling in the film roles. I suppose GI Joe is the inspiration for writers like "Full Metal Jacket" or why boys become Jar Heads? Psychology aside, I read this book in three sittings. It captures the culture of Trinidad through the eyes of a 17 year-old boy whose mother has died and whose father reluctantly sends for him to come to Canada. With fantasies of reuniting with his long-lost, deadbeat dad, he soon discovers his father has no intention of making up for lost time with his son. Left to fend pretty much for himself, Samuel negotiates the strange streets of Toronto with its frigid northern temperatures and unfamiliar immigrant neighborhoods, giving the reader an incredibly fresh view of Canada's culture and the machinations of assimilation. To accompany this book we've selected an Alsace Pinot Gris as recommended for spicy Indian style foods by Decanter
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Author Interviews >>
Author Podcast: Orhan Pamuk
by
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
I had the good fortune while on business in snowy London, to nab a ticket to the sold out event on January 12th featuring Turkish author and Nobel Prize Laureate, Orhan Pamuk at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in the Southbank Centre. Pamuk of course is promoting his new novel, The Museum of Innocence (Published by Knopf, October 2009) which has been getting sensational critical reviews and popular acclaim. Pamuk has been working on Museum for many years and has alluded to it thus: “The story, which takes place in Istanbul between 1975 and today, is about obsessive passion and the great question: What is love, really?” Tonight, Pamuk is introduced by Hermione Lee who is herself a gifted writer and important critical reviewer. The following podcast begins with an introduction by Ms Lee, followed by a reading by Orhan Pamuk (with amusing antidotes), then a discussion period betwee Pamuk and Lee, and finally a selection of the questions from the audience. There is an interesting segment where Pamuk explains the derivation of the cover photo art: he found the picture in a Turkish photo archive, he photoshopped out the background and added the Bosphorous Sea, he added suspenders to the man in the back seat (which he then had to describe similarly in the book). After all the work, his publishers worried they'd be sued by anyone of the people depicted in the photo. A search to discover their identities and whereabouts found that the only surviving member is the woman seated in the front seat of the car wearing the kurchief. She was contacted and completely delighted by the story. Pamuk went to meet her and has a photograph taken of himself with her - she is now in her 90's.
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Technology Corner >>
Apple Announces The iPAD
by
Monday, February 01, 2010
Events >>
eBook Summit: Media Bistro Presents Innovations in Digital Publishing
by
Friday, November 06, 2009
I just signed up for Mediabistro.com's two-day eBook Summit in NYC December 15-16th. If you register before November 18th it's only $345 for both days. Take a look at the heavy-hitting list of key note speakers: Brandon Badger, Product Manager, Google Books; Steve Haber, President, Digital Reading Business Division, Sony; Katty Kay, Washington Correspondent, BBC World News America Author, Womenomics; Jane Friedman, CEO & Co-Founder, Open Road Integrated Media and former CEO, HarperCollins. The program promises to "take a closer look at the changing digital publishing industry, from the perspectives of content creators and of publishers. Leaders in the field will uncover business development opportunities, and highlight the latest technological innovations currently driving the future of digital publishing." If you are a publishing professional, content creator, marketer, advertising and PR professional, business development and e-commerce leader, gather round. Get the Twitter feed with: #ebooksummit. In case you need a completely frivolous reason, take in some holiday shopping and window displays-there is no place on Earth like NYC in December. Details, details, details... here is the skinny on what's up for discussion:
....More >>
MASH UP >>
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Some Member Book Selections
 
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