McGill-Queen's University Press Blog

What's cooking?

Nathalie Cooke's recently released book, What's to Eat?, has received an eloquent and favourable review by Anne Chudobiak from the Montreal Review of Books. Her review highlights the intriguing "everything old is new again" theme, and particularly recommends the book to "[a]nyone who roasts their own coffee beans..., smokes their own bacon, or who simply makes a point of buying raw milk cheese, artisanal bread, or fair-trade chocolate."

"It's fall. For weeks, the stalls at farmers' markets have spilled over with sensual abundance: zucchini (and more zucchini), tomatoes, and corn. There couldn't be a more evocative time of year in which to launch a book about food.

What's to Eat? is an academic book with crossover appeal for readers from the "granola-meets-gourmet" foodie subculture..." (Read more)

Yesterday evening L. Ian Macdonal launched his new book, Politics, People and Potpourri, to a large and enthusiastic crowd that included well-known political figures, who are among his many admirers and readers. Premier Charest glowingly endorsed the book and recommended it to anyone interested in Canadian poltics. We send our Congratualtions to the author. Below are some phtos of the evening's highlights. 

(Top Right) Tremblay and MacDonald have a friendly catch-up. 
(Top Left) L. Ian MacDonald signs a copy of his book for Premier Charest
(Bottom Right) L. Ian MacDonald signs a copy of Politics People and Potpourri for a fan. 

A very Big Biblical Bargain

If you're as excited to get your hands on a copy of Canada's Big Biblical Bargain, as McGill was to get its hands on the Dead Sea Scrolls, check out this article in the Gazette. Co-authors of the McGill-Queen's forthcoming book, Jason Kalman and Jacqueline duToit, gave a talk to the James McGill Society last week. Their book is set to be released in Spring 2010.

Remember Bennett on Parliament Hill

Arthur Milnes and Christopher McCreery have recently published a book called The Authentic Voice of Canada: R.B. Bennett's speeches in the House of Lords 1941-1947. An excerpt of their book appeared in the Telegraph-Journal on Saturday. Their book includes copies of Bennett's speeches, reflections on his place in Canadian history, and a critique of how Canada has (not) remembered Bennett.   

In the excerpt, Milnes remarks that Bennett "is hardly mentioned at all in the annals of Canadian historiography." Milnes goes on to propose that we begin "to make amends with the memory of our 11th prime minister. A new statue of a PM placed on the Hill... is long overdue. Bennett's time has come." (Read more)

Corporatized universities devalue education

Did you know that "[t]he federal government would now have to invest an additional $4 billion a year in iversities just to return to the funding levels of the early 1980s?"

Howard Woodhouse, author of Selling Out: Academic Freedom and the Corporate Market, wrote an Op-Ed for the Toronto Star this past weekend. Woodhouse argues that the market model is not the only way forward, and that governments have a responsibility to fund universities. In his Op-Ed, he writes that "Governments, corporations and most university administrators regard Canadian universities as "engines of economic growth." Their function is no longer the search for truth, but to increase global competitiveness." Read more. 

Remembering a lesson in military heroism

In theme with Rememberance Day, The Chronicle Herald has reviewed Triquet's Cross, by John MacFarlane. In their review, they note that "very few biographies have been written of individual Canadians who were awarded the Victoria Cross" and assert that "MacFarlane... has taken a giant step towards correcting this shortcoming." Further, they label the book as "well-researched and highly readable."

To read their full review, click here.

Bringing Art to Life and news

The Ottawa Citizen calls Bringing Art to Life, by Andrew Horrall, "an important book, [about] a true Canadian tragedy that deserves telling." Their review of Horrall's book is available here.

      In 1959, Alan Jarvis - the brilliant and charismatic director of the National Gallery of Canada - was forced to resign following a disagreement with the government over the purchase of works by European Old Masters. He never fully recovered from this dismissal, or the public humiliation that followed, succumbing to alcoholism in a little over a decade... (read more)

Death, a happy ending?

   

Todd May, author of Death (part of The Art of Living Series), was recently published in the New York Times. His article, "Happy Ending," offers practical insight on the phenomeona of life and death.

Launch of L. Ian MacDonald's "Politics, People & Potpourri"

McGill-Queen’s University Press cordially invites you to join L. Ian Macdonald in celebrating the Official Launch of his book "Politics, People & Potpourri."

Date: November 16th, 2009, 
Time: 5:30pm - 7:30pm
Location: Indigo Downtown, Place Montreal Trust, 1500 Avenue McGill College  

 

"In always-fluid, engaging prose, L. Ian MacDonald provides a front-row seat
to living history - people and events of yesterday still shaping our lives today."
Anthony Wilson-Smith, former Editor, Maclean's

Andrew Steinmetz wins Ottawa Book Award for English Fiction

Congratulations to Andrew Steinmetz for winning the Ottawa Book Award for English Fiction! Steinmetz' won for his novel Eva's Threepenny Opera, which has also been nominated for the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. He previously published a collection of poetry, Hurt Thyself with MQUP.

Woodhouse nominated, Saskatchewan Book Award

Howard Woodhouse’s new book Selling Out has been nominated for a Saskatchewan Book Award in the category of scholarly writing. McGill-Queen’s University Press would like to congratulate Woodhouse on his nomination. As a university publisher, we are pleased to see that Woodhouse’s salient points on academic integrity are reaching a wide audience.

 

A "Who's Who" of Who is Reading the Library of Political Leadership Series

Former US President Bill Clinton will receive an honorary degree from McGill University tomorrow morning, not long after receiving a MQUP-related gift from Arthur Milnes (pictured here with his wife Alison Bogle), editor of In Roosevelt's Bright Shadow.  

A part of the Library of Political Leadership series, the book collects presidential addresses about Canada from former president Taft, to current President Obama. Perhaps we will one day see President Clinton's remarks at McGill tomorrow in a future volume.

  Another title in this series, The Authentic Voice of Canada: RB Bennett's Speeches in the House of Lords 1941-1947, was recently presented to the Right Honourable the Baroness Hayman, Lord Speaker of the House of Lords.

Havi Carel nominated

Havi Carel’s book Illness: The Cry of the Flesh has just been nominated for the Wellcome Trust Book Prize. Writing from her combined experience as a philosopher and as a person who has been diagnosed with a life-threatening disease, Carel offers fresh insight on the minds of those battling illness.

 

McGill-Queen’s would like to congratulate Carel on her nomination and is delighted to see further acclaim for The Art of Living series. We cross our fingers for Carel and are confident that the series’ three soon-to-be-released titles Faith, Science, and Money will continue the great success of these books on why we think the ways we do.

Andrew Steinmetz Nominated for Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize

The Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize has recently released the nominees for its 2009 awards. Among them is Andrew Steinmetz, who was nominated for his first novel, Eva’s Threepenny Theatre, and finds himself in good company alongside his fellow-nominees Alice Munro, Douglas Coupland, Nicole Brossard, and Anabel Lyon. Steinmetz has previously published a collection of poetry with MQUP called Hurt Thyself on love, marriage, and power.

 

McGill-Queen’s University Press would like to congratulate Steinmetz on his nomination. We hope this honour brings even more well-deserved attention to his excellent work. Félicitations Andrew!

Hockey, Canada's game?

The current battle over who should have the rights to purchase the NHL’s Phoenix Coyotes (Jim Basillie or the NHL) has dominated hockey news from the summer, to the preseason, and isn’t going away with the start of the regular season on October 1. The issue has been taken to bankruptcy court, where a single person – unaffected by the issue – will rule on the decision. Here we must ask, who is being left out of the decision making process, and why? Amongst the flying spittle of lawyers, judges and CEOs, the voices of the players and communities affected by the outcome remain unheard. So, why aren’t we surprised? Because it’s long been known that major league hockey has been commodified, and is a far cry from its community roots.

In an essay included in the recently-published Canada’s Game, (mentioned here, and here) Julian Ammirante discusses the political economy of hockey and “the fragile empire” that is the NHL. He argues that Hockey players – the workers – have organized themselves into the National Hockey League Players Association – a union. From there, they have been able to disrupt the NHL, as seen by the 2004 Lockout. Part of their organizing has meant an ability to “decrease the rate of surplus value of their labour” and work towards a democratic restructuring of production and consumption. In this sense, the NHLPA can be viewed as a turn toward hockey’s community roots.

Ammirante goes on to explore the intricacies of the impact of capitalism on hockey, or rather, the basic economics of hockey as a commodity. He ties the transformations that have taken place in NHL hockey, to the transformations of global capitalism It is argued that as hockey has become intertwined with profit, large investors have “increasingly put their own interests ahead of the game, regardless of the interests of the fans” (203). Ammirante concludes that “something is wrong with major-league sports …the NHL in particular, along with society’s current relationship to it” (204). Given the case of the Phoenix Coyotes, it is hard to disagree; many might agree that the NHL requires systems of reform to compromise between the business of the sport and the integrity of the game.

Resisting the commodification of hockey is possible. While it is hard to imagine the NHL as a de-corporatized body, sports should be “different from other commodities that are produced and sold in the marketplace” (203). Hockey is a fundamental part of Canadian culture and communities rally around it from coast to coast; Ammirante suggests that sports should belong to communities, as their fostering of young athletes is central to the creation of professional athletes. Continuing his radical evaluation, Ammirante proposes that organizations, such as the NHL, should be “structured along non-profit and revenue-sharing lines. However, such a scheme would demand a serious evaluation of capitalist ideology not only in relation to sports but also in relation to economic and political power” (205).

Perhaps this is too idealistic, however Ammirante’s optimism should be applauded. The Basillie–Bettman battle proves that the NHL requires some serious re-grounding and overhaul. Hopefully when this happens, the hockey that grew on backyard rinks and frozen ponds, will find a place at the centre ice of million dollar arenas.

Review and Launch of Memories, Myths, and Dreams of an Ojibwe Leader

  This last weekend, The Winnipeg Free Press reviewed a new MQUP publication: Memories, Myths, and Dreams of an Ojibwe Leader, which will be launched at 8pm on Thursday, September 24, 2009 at McNally Robinson, Grant Park. If you are in Winnipeg, be sure to attend what promises to be a lively and informative night of native and Canadian history. The book is a collection of stories, reminiscences, and myths orally recounted by Chief William Berens to the anthropologist A. Irving Hallowell. Jennifer S.A. Brown and Susan Elaine Gray have skillfully recovered, edited, and introduced Chief Berens' remarkable life and fascinating stories to a new generation of readers.

Praising David Thompson Travels

If you didn't have a chance to pick up this weekend's Globe and Mail, follow this link to John Allemang's piece on Canada's greatest inland explorer, David Thompson. Interviewed for the piece is William E. Moreau, editor of The Writings of David Thompson, Volume I, The Travels, published by MQUP this weekend.

A fur trader in the late-eighteenth and early-nineteenth centuries, Thompson accurately mapped over three million square kilometers of North America while keeping extensive travel journals about his thoughts and impressions of the land. More than an explorer, Thompson was an exceptional prose stylist who balances romantic description with what William E. Moreau calls a "rational, calculating side." Mr. Allemang's story and Mr. Moreau's interview show how Thompson is an early Canadian hero for being so "open-minded, observant and methodical." The story and the book are testaments to a remarkable figure in Canadian history who is also one of the country's earliest -- and most fascinating -- writers.

MQUP author curates photography exhibit in Paris

MQUP author Martha Langford and Sherry Farrell Racette have curated a photography exhibit called Unmasking: Arthur Renwick, Adrian Stimson, Jeff Thomas. The show opens on September 22, 2009 and runs until January 29, 2010 at the Canadian Cultural Centre in Paris. If you are lucky enough to be in Paris over the next few months, be sure to see these confrontational representations of First Nations identities. Congratulations to the artists and curators!

For more insight into photography, be sure to take a look at Martha Langford's critically acclaimed books:

Suspended Conversations: The Afterlife of Memory in Photographic Albums

 

"The notion that the album is meant to be performed, or orally narrated is appealing and credible, conjuring images of older family members identifying, remembering and explaining, while occasionally digressing into extraneous personal and family histories for a younger audience … Photographic albums deserve close readers like this one." Border Crossings

Scissors, Paper, Stone: Expressions of Memory in Contemporary Photographic Art

 

 

"An important and beautifully written book -- an absolute tour de force. The exceptionally intimate tone is one of the memorable aspects of the book along with the formidable scholarship and critical acumen. Langford performs this high stakes, high wire act without a slip." Laura Wexler, American studies and women's, gender, and sexuality studies, Yale University

 

Image & Imagination

 

 

 "This impressive and original book offers a new take on photo-imagery and the photo-imaginary." Liz Wells, editor, Photography: A Critical Introduction and The Photography Reader

 

 

LRC review of Stephen Manning's Quebec: The Story of Three Sieges

In advance of the 250th anniversary of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham the Literary Review of Canada has published an excellent review by Jack Mitchell that not only examines recent books dealing with the battle, but also brilliantly synthesizes the historical debate, controversy over the (lack of) commemorations, and toxic political environment for Canada's and Quebec's leaders.

Among the books reviewed is Stephen Manning's Quebec: The Story of Three Sieges (see post below).

Enjoy Labour Day with Lars Svendsen's *Work*

Labour Day is on Monday, so why not spend the last day of your summer reading time with a book on work? From the Art of Living series, Svendsen's book considers why we dread it, why we need it, and how we can -- and should -- balance work with our leisure time.

To know more about the book, read this review from the Montreal Mirror.

Happy Labour Day!

Books for the 250th Anniversary of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham

September 13, 2009 marks the 250th anniversary of an event that continues to shape Canadian and Quebeçois national narratives: the Battle of the Plains of Abraham. Few events in continue to cause such debate and controversy, as has recently been witnessed by the cancellation of a reenactment of the battle to commemorate the events of 250 years ago.

 

This hour-long battle that culminated months of siege by the British on the French city of Quebec during the Seven Years’ War has become one of the defining moments of Canadian and Quebec history. While often seen as a foundational moment for what would eventually become Canada, Stephen Manning’s new book, Quebec: The Story of Three Sieges, argues that the battle has been misunderstood and unexamined from its larger historical context. This larger context includes the fact that the Plains of Abraham was not the last time Quebec City was the site of a major conflict: it was attacked by French forces in 1760 in an attempt to recapture the city; and was then put under siege once more during the American Revolutionary War in 1776. Canadian and Quebecois perspectives often seem to indicate that there was the battle in 1759 that ended it all, even when there is much more to the story. So, it is incorrect to remember the Battle of the Plains of Abraham as a French–British conflict that led to a Canada–Quebec conflict when the importance of Quebec's military past is to North America.

 

Although in the mid-eighteenth century, the fort had largely tactical importance, the city of Quebec had – by the time of the American Revolution – become the bastion of British forces in North America and central to the politics that would occur throughout the continent. Manning charts the political and military history of the city throughout the Seven Years’ War, the battle of St. Foy, and the eventual siege of Quebec by American revolutionary forces, in a thrilling narrative which offers an entirely new perspective of the history of North America. Perhaps by reconsidering the larger context of these battles it will be possible to move past some of the ongoing conflict and controversy of this anniversary.

 

 If you would like to know more about the Battle of the Plains of Abraham and the history surrounding it, you should also take a look at Stephen Brumwell’s exceptional biography: Paths of Glory: The Life and Death of General James Wolfe.

Globe and Mail review of Evan Potter's Branding Canada

Concerned about how the world looks at Canada? Could the country's governments be more media savvy? Does Canada need an image makeover after the Governor-General ate a raw seal heart? The Globe and Mail raises these issues in this review of Evan H. Potter's Branding Canada: Projecting Canada's Soft Power through Public Diplomacy.

The review points out Potter's argument that '[o]f all the instruments of public diplomacy, culture is the most self-defining and long-lasting. As Potter explains, “Cultural diversity, rather than being a barrier, is now a strategic resource that, in a global knowledge-based society, drives innovation, creativity and reconciliation.”' Considering the ongoing cuts to cultural programmes in Canada, it is worthwhile to think about the ways that Canada represents itself to the world beyond national-attention-getting $135 hockey sweaters. 

Speaking of Savoie...

A glowing review of Donald J Savoie's book, I'm From Bouctouche, Me, written by a fellow Acadian and Ottawa city councillor, appeared in the Monday edition of the Globe and Mail. To give you a taste, Clive Doucet writes

"The Acadians were the original “Yes we can” people, and Savoie's book is fired with this ebullient spirit. Savoie is tenacious and, in a quiet way, tough as old leather. So are Acadians. They have constantly sought to get along with others, but at the same time to maintain their own language and culture. Acadians built dikes, not walls, in the New World, and Savoie's own life is led in that community tradition of connecting and doing."

 For more information on Savoie, check out our last post, or his many books with MQUP!