Ray Robertson and Kathleen Winter win some Local Accolades

Ray Robertson and Kathleen Winter have received some nice local love from local Windsor monthly rags The Urbanite and The Independent.

In The Independent, Vanessa Shields, author of the recently released poetry collection I Am That Women (which we carry in the bookshop shop), praised Robertson's I Was There The Night He Died. Here's a taste:

Reading a Ray Robertson novel is an education - in stellar creative writing, in human emotion at its raw and honest best, in the underbelly of music, the part that connects us, and in holding up mirrors - between the best and worst parts of the characters as we journey with them because we want to...Therein lies the power of Robertson's writing abilities. His characters know themselves well-enough that readers can latch on, even if the knowing is that the character is a lost, heart-broken soul himself latching onto whatever he can in order to get up and face another day. It takes balls to write with such grace and honesty. 

The full review can be found in the September issue of the Independent, as can a wonderful piece titled "Bookshop Blossoms" about our 10th anniversary, eloquently written by local maverick and underground scene kingpin Bob Smith.

Meanwhile, in the September 10th-23rd issue of The Urbanite, Loren Mastracci showed some love to Kathleen Winter's The Freedom in American Songs, giving the new collection by the award-winning author of Annabel 4 out of 5 stars. She says:

The stories are densely packed with effective fictional anecdotes in the form of improbable dialogues or interesting encounters. They recount the bizarre yet cunning stories of several average individuals, who live their everyday life under Winter's unabridged lenses. 

 Thanks to Loren and Vanessa!

"Why Marijuana is Boring"

A pro-MJ celebration in Denver, CO.

In response to the decision by Washington State to legalize marijuana use, a blog columnist at the Vancouver Sun elected last week to write a feature on why, to him, marijuana is boring. Further to that decision he elected—in an offbeat-if-not-unwelcome move—to use as his argumentative springboard Ray Robertson's I Was There the Night He Died, from which he'd heard Ray read at the Ottawa Writer's Festival and which he apparently enjoyed. ("Many people seem to get quite excited about marijuana," runs the Sun's photo caption, "but, as Canadian novelist Ray Robertson notes, it's not exactly conducive to good conversation.") The piece has—perhaps unsurprisingly in Vancouver—triggered a few indignant comments from the four-twenty crowd in defense of Mary Jane. Thought it might amuse.

"I Was There" a Best in Small Press Book, Globe & Mail

If you're looking for yet another reason to pick up Ray Robertson's I Was There the Night He Died as that cool-man gift for daddy-o, well, look no further than the Globe & Mail: IWT was featured this weekend as a Best in Small Press Book.  Here's what they had to say:

"An uplifting read ... the style is writerly, self-conscious and poignant  ... a redemptive story about love despite the prevalence and certainty of death."

Call this the Father's Day frosting on the cake that was Shelagh Rogers's stupendous Next Chapter interview. Happy weekend, folks. Peace out! 

I Was There The Night He Died Reviewed in Star Tribune

Ray Robertson fans: some American coverage for I Was There The Night He Died courtesy of Minneapolis's Star Tribune. Here's the lead-off:

Problems increasingly familiar to baby boomers embroider Ray Roberston’s “I Was There The Night He Died — aging and ill parents; the prevalence of Alzheimer’s; difficult relatives, and the attendant duties of ushering them out of this world, respectfully disposing of their possessions and homes. Self-absorbed novelist Sam Samson has taken on such tasks, back “home” in working-class Chatham, a few hours west of his adopted Toronto.

And for all you Torontonians, don't forget that Ray will be participating at the amazing Luminato Literary Picnic @ Trinity Bellwoods Park this Sunday and will be taking Stage A by storm at roughly 2:15PM. It's a great chance to get some sun, grab some delicious grub, and have a chat one of Canada's most beloved authors. Free signatures for all dads, so don't be shy.

 

Ray Robertson on The Next Chapter

When I read the book over I was pleased because ... it is sort of a dark book thematically, but I thought it was a funny book and that was a relief to me ... You can't really explore the real serious dark stuff in life unless you admit the comedic into it, because I know in my own life, and people that I know, one of the ways you eventually confront things and cope with them and ultimately hopefully transcend them is through humour. - Ray Robertson

This week's episode of The Next Chapter with Shelagh Rogers features Lynn Cody, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Lynn Thomson, and our very own Ray Robertson! Ray speaks about his new novel I Was There The Night He Died, highlighting the importance of humour, the complexities of small town social ethics, finding meaning through the twin poles of intoxication and work, and whether you can really go home again. To listen to Shelagh and Ray's extended conversation click here. And for all you radio fanatics who prefer to dial in the old-fashioned way, the episode re-airs on the CBC this Saturday, @ 4PM!

Ray Robertson takes over the eh List in Toronto (Tonight!) and the Chatham Public Library (Saturday)

"I Was There The Night He Died doesn't read like a lot of Canadian fiction. It’s urban, has a lot of alt-country and obscure rock and roll in it, and it’s not trying to turn anyone into a better human being. It’s just a great story populated by some very real, very flawed characters.Granted, no one who works for the Chatham Chamber of Commerce will be too thrilled, but I think many of the rest of us will remember fondly a life not too far removed from our own, and have a laugh on the way." - David Worsley, co-owner of Words Worth Books, The Cord Community

Ray Robertson takes over the eh List at the North York Public Library @7PM tonight, then we roll out the beer-soaked and musty grey carpet for his homecoming on Saturday @2PM at the Chatham Public Library. Both events are free and open to the public - yes, even to members of the Chatham Chamber of commerce.

Ray Robertson in the News

Biblioasis is pleased to announce several reviews of the highly acclaimed I Was There the Night He Died by Ray Robertson:

"I Was There the Night He Died, [Ray Robertson's] seventh novel, is an absorbing and hilarious read, despite the most tragic of narratives ... the narrative is filled with sly wit and keen observation ... an exceptional novel by one of the country's finest literary voices."—The National Post

"Penned in the stark-yet-warm rock'n'roll prose that has become his signature ... Robertson creates characters who dance and sing even as they suffer the malaise of life ... [and] has a great deal of fun with his chosen profession, poking sly jabs at the stereotypical image of the writer while at the same time paying tribute to it."—The Winnipeg Review

Ray was also interviewed by Chatham Daily News' Ellwood Shreve, who claimed that “I have read and enjoyed some of Robertson's books, including What Happened Later, David and Why Not? What makes his books even more interesting to me is the fact they are set in Chatham. The way he describes neighbourhoods and places, I can see it in my mind's eye.”—Chatham Daily News

On April 9th, Chatham This Week heralded I Was There the Night He Died as a "portrait of a self-medicating man’s midlife crisis, a testimony to love’s persistence despite death and decline, and ultimately a passionate defence of the power of popular music to change our lives.”—Chatham This Week

49th Shelf posted it in the "On Our Radar" blog series and quoted Cord Community "I Was There The Night He Died doesn’t read like a lot of Canadian fiction. It’s urban, has a lot of alt-country and obscure rock and roll in it, and it’s not trying to turn anyone into a better human being. It’s just a great story populated by some very real, very flawed characters. Granted, no one who works for the Chatham Chamber of Commerce will be too thrilled, but I think many of the rest of us will remember fondly a life not too far removed from our own, and have a laugh on the way.”—49th Shelf

And last but not least, Open Book Ontario posted a segment with Ray Robertson on the role of money in fiction.

Precision-Crafted Machines Spring Anticipation

Over at The Afterword, Meeting the Tormentors in Safeway by the inimitable Alexandra Oliver is one of Michael Lista's four Canadian Poetry Books of the year for 2013, cited for "precision-crafted" poems at once  "[t]heatrical, funny,  [and] formally ingenious."  Also listed alongside the stellar cast of Oliver, Sara Peters and Karen Solie is Amanda Jernigan, author of the much-lauded 2011 Biblioasis debut Groundwork, for her most recent book All the Daylight Hours from Cormorant. Congrats to all!

& for those of you hoping to beckon the thaw with anticipation/wishful thinking, here are The 49th Shelf's most anticipated books of Spring 2014, among which distinguished company you will find mention of not one but two of our forthcoming titles: Novelists, a new short-story collection by the enigmatic C.P. Boyko, and I Was There the Night he Died, the new novel by "the Jerry Lee Lewis of North American letters," Ray Robertson.