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Wine & Book Group Pick for Feb-Mar
 "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
March 11, 2010 —
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Previous Book & Wine Picks
Dec-Jan The Winter Vault set in Egypt and Toronto
Mar-Apr Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell set in reality land
Jan-Feb Fifty Miles From Tomorrow set Alaska
Nov-Dec Distantly Related to Freud set Montreal, Canada
Sept-Oct Red Dog, Red Dog set the Interior, British Columbia
July-Aug A Romance On Three Legs set Toronto, Canada
May-June The Cellest From Sarajevo, set in Sarajevo
March-April Cellophane set in the Peruvian Rainforest
January-February Eat, Pray, Love set in New York, Italy and India
November-December Madonna:Like an Icon,
October-November Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, set in New England
August-September On Chesil Beach, set in England
July The Last Chinese Chef, set in Shanghai
June The Birth House, set in Nova Scotia
May Water for Elephants, set in Depression-era America
March-April Snowflower and the Secret Fan, set in China
February Cloudstreet, set in Perth, Australia
January The Good German, set in Berlin
December The Historian, set in Eastern Europe
November One Good Turn, set in Edinburgh
September Lost in the Forest, set in Napa Valley
August The Hummingbird's Daughter, set in Mexico
July The Devil Wears Prada, set in NYC
June Woolf in Ceylon, set in Ceylon
May Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living, Australia
April The Mermaid Chair, set in South Carolina
March Memoirs of a Geisha, set in Japan
February Get a Life, set in South Africa
January In the Shadow of the Wind, set in Barcelona
December Pride and Prejudice, set in England
November Beyond Measure, set in Renaissance Italy
October Breakfast at Tiffany's, set in New York
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