MacEwan Book of the Year: An Evening With Michael Ondaatje

There's something about book events and author readings/signings that I can't pass up. Last Thursday, Michael Ondaatje (the Canadian author of such books as The English Patient and The Cat's Table - but if you didn't already know that, shame on you!), was at MacEwan University for MacEwan Book of the Year event in which Ondaatje won for The Cat's Table (which I might add, I have not yet read - shame on me!)

{MacEwan Book of the Year}

But here's the thing: as excited as I was to go to this event, I cannot truthfully say I am a big fan of Ondaatje's. In fact, not only have I not read The Cat's Table, but the only book I have read of Ondaatje's is In the Skin of a Lion, and I didn't even like it. But I loved the film version of The English Patient! (That counts for something, right?).  What I am a huge fan of though is books, and without authors, we would have no books (obviously).  Therefore, I am generally not one to turn down an opportunity to meet an author, especially a well-known, Canadian author.  Even if I feel a little bit like a poser in attending. Luckily, I was in good company with fellow-poser's Laura from Reading In Bed, and my mom, Sheri.

I'm no stranger to attending book events, in fact, if there was a frequent-flyer card for this, I would have the gold star membership. You see, my mom was a book publicist for 10+ years, so you can imagine the number of times I was gently-forced asked to attend her client's events. And over those years, I realized that it doesn't matter if you're a fan of the author or not - as a book lover, it's FUN to go to these types of things. While I was thinking about what to write for this post, I started to think about all the author's I have met over the years (stay-tuned for a future post) and how it never gets old or tiring to attend these kinds of events. Authors really are the celebrities of the bookish-world. Seeing and meeting authors evokes the same feelings and enjoyment I get out of seeing my favourite (and even not-so-favourite) bands play live. And the opportunities to meet these celebrities seems to be few and far between nowadays, so who am I to turn down the chance to meet one of them?

But let's get back to the MacEwan Book of the Year night.  I think what I love so much about this program is that it's tradition for the author of the chosen year's book to visit MacEwan campus for an evening of discussion. And luckily for us non-university folk, it's open to anyone who wishes to purchase a ticket to attend!

After Mr. Ondaatje was introduced, he read a few select passages from The Cat's Table. Sometimes at author events, the author just rambles about whatever he/she feels like, but if we're lucky, they will read a few passages out of their book. I say lucky because there's something very intimate about hearing an author read their own words. Only they can truly emphasize certain words and phrases as they were meant to be emphasized and this has often changed my reading experience of the their book for the better. For me, it adds a deeper connection to the story and I love being able to hear their voice as I read their book. I remember this one time where I listened to an author read from her book in her British accent and I then proceeded to read her book in her same British accent. Which is really weird because I can't even speak in a fake-British accent.

{Q&A between Michael and Michael}

After Michael was done reading, Michael Hingston, Books Columnist for the Edmonton Journal, joined him on stage and they conversed in a Q & A, including some audience-submitted questions. I'm terrible at recalling interesting discussion points, but here are a few things I do happen to remember from that night:

• Michael Ondaatje admitted he's never re-read any of his books after they've been published. While initially I found this fact quite interesting, the more I thought of it, the more it makes sense. I don't even like re-reading my blog posts. Can you imagine re-reading actual books you wrote and are now published and you can never change that one line you cringe at the thought of thousands of people reading? *shudder*

• When asked how he writes his stories - does he come up with the plot or the characters first? - Michael told us he decides on the time and setting first (ex: France in 1975), then the characters. From there, the story evolves.

• In response to why don't some of the chapters in his books have titles when others do, Michael simply replied that they don't need titles.

And then of course the best part is saved for last:

{I have to admit, I'm a little underwhelmed by Mr. Ondaatje's signature

}

Oh yes, and apparently Michael Ondaatje was pretty sexy in his younger years...and if you don't believe me, Laura has proof over on her blog.

The Virgin Cure by Ami McKay (My First Review, Yay!)

I'm really excited that the first book review I am going to do is on Ami McKay's new book, The Virgin Cure. For one, I loved her first book, The Birth House, and two, I like to read Canadian authors whenever I can. A part of me was hesitant to read the book right away as I've been let down in the past by authors whose subsequent books weren't as good as their first ones, but I'm happy to report, this wasn't the case at all with The Virgin Cure.

And another reason this book review feels so exciting is, one day while I was at work at the bookstore, Ami McKay unexpectedly stopped by the store to sign all the copies of her books we had in stock! Ami was on her way back to the airport after being in town for promoting The Virgin Cure. After a quick search told her publicist that our book store had the most copies of both her books in stock, they made a quick pit stop to sign books. My only disappointment in the whole situation was that I hadn't known ahead of time and was therefore without my hardcover copy of The Birth House for Ami to sign. So sad.  It was so exciting to meet Ami and she was super nice and signed personal copies of her book for myself and a few other bookstore employees. You can check out Ami's website here: http://www.amimckay.com/

Goodreads Synopsis:

"I am Moth, a girl from the lowest part of Chrystie Street, born to a slum-house mystic and the man who broke her heart." So begins The Virgin Cure, a novel set in the tenements of lower Manhattan in the year 1871. As a young child, Moth's father smiled, tipped his hat and walked away from her forever. The summer she turned twelve, her mother sold her as a servant to a wealthy woman, with no intention of ever seeing her again.

These betrayals lead Moth to the wild, murky world of the Bowery, filled with house-thieves, pickpockets, beggars, sideshow freaks and prostitutes, where eventually she meets Miss Everett, the owner of a brothel simply known as "The Infant School." Miss Everett caters to gentlemen who pay dearly for companions who are "willing and clean," and the most desirable of them all are young virgins like Moth.

Through the friendship of Dr. Sadie, a female physician, Moth learns to question and observe the world around her, where her new friends are falling prey to the myth of the "virgin cure"--that deflowering a "fresh maid" can heal the incurable and tainted. She knows the law will not protect her, that polite society ignores her, and still she dreams of answering to no one but herself. There's a high price for such independence, though, and no one knows that better than a girl from Chrystie Street.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed stepping back into time, to a place that none of us could ever know, but only imagine. When I think of New York, I think of money, glamour, celebrities, fast-paced business people walking with a purpose, yellow cabs, central park, the city that never sleeps. Instead, Ami McKay takes us to a time when New York was a dark and often dangerous place to live, especially if you were poor and of poor social standing. A city full of brothels, thieves, beggars and men willing to pay top dollar for the "virgin cure".  I know an author has done a job well done when I feel like I've been to such a world as they are describing. 

I was immediately drawn into the story of Moth, the young daughter of a gypsy fortune teller. How can you not feel for someone when they tell you in the first paragraph of the first chapter that they were twelve the summer their own mother sold them? Her own mother. From that moment, I needed to know what was going to happen to Moth and how she was going to survive on the filthy streets of Manhattan. 

As Moth finds herself living in a brothel and being trained to be a whore, you can't help but be inspired by Moth's bravery and strength, while at the same time, feeling heartbroken for her and the real girls that lived during these times in the late 19th century. How far women have come since the 1870s. While Ms. McKay was able to transport her readers to this era, it's difficult to imagine actually living and surviving in a world full of such hardship and sorrow. 

This book, with the extra tid-bits of history, period advertisements and fashion descriptions from Harper's Bazaar, make it feel like you are reading a scrapbook (I love scrapbooks!) or personal journal of sorts. While some may find this distracting, I felt it added that much more dimension to the story. It also made it hard for me to breathe during the descriptions of the corsets! 


I loved this book. I give it 5/5 stars. Now, go on, read it, just do it! Then come back and let me know what you thought of it. 

P.S. I'm going to "cheat" a little bit here and count this as my first book out of 50 for the 50 Book Pledge as I started it in 2011, but finished it in 2012 :)