A companion volume to Canadian Odyssey: A Reading of Hugh Hood's The New Age, God's Plenty surveys the short fiction of the writer dubbed Canada's Proust. Hugh Hood, an unparalleled stylist, was equally accomplished in short forms and long: this straight-talking assessment of Hood's stories is thorough, insightful, readable, and profound. With its story-by-story breakdown and rigorous engagement with Hood's technique, God's Plenty offers an excellent introduction not just to an undersung master, but to the art of short fiction full stop. W.J. Keith is a professor emeritus at the University of Toronto.

Animals of all kinds, from a lovesick hippopotamus to a valuable pair of Chelsea dogs make an appearance in Hugh Hood's delightful new collection of short stories You'll Catch Your Death. But mostly one is aware of the birds. As the narrator in Hood's opening story observes, `what I saw was birds and birds and again birds'. Mosaic renderings of peacocks and cranes, a cage of cruelly imprisoned pigeons, a lorikeet named Ronnie Reagan, a couple of stolen cockatoos and a bestselling book entitled `Caring Parenting While Birding' each play a role in these stories, along with a cast of eccentric bird lovers. Amusing, thoughtful, and by turns poignant, the thirteen never-before-published stories in You'll Catch Your Death are Hugh Hood at his eclectic best. `More Birds' and `You'll Catch Your Death' explore mankind's tenuous relationship with the animal world. `Disappearing Creatures of Various Kinds' reveals some of the mysterious ways in which humans reach out and communicate with other living creatures. On the other hand `Deanna and the Ayatollah' invents a fateful encounter between Khomeini and film star Deanna Durbin, while `Getting Funding' is a hilarious send-up of Canadian arts funding and the CBC.

This edition of "The Canadian Encyclopedia is the largest, most comprehensive book ever published in Canada for the general reader. It is COMPLETE: every aspect of Canada, from its rock formations to its rock bands, is represented here. It is UNABRIDGED: all of the information in the four red volumes of the famous 1988 edition is contained here in this single volume. It has been EXPANDED: since 1988 teams of researchers have been diligently fleshing out old entries and recording new ones; as a result, the text from 1988 has grown by 50% to over 4,000,000 words. It has been UPDATED: the researchers and contributors worked hard to make the information as current as possible. Other words apply to this extraordinary work of scholarship: AUTHORITATIVE, RELIABLE and READABLE. Every entry is compiled by an expert. Equally important, every entry is written for a Canadian reader, from the Canadian point of view. The finished work - many years in the making, and the equivalent of forty average-sized books - is an extraordinary storehouse of information about our country. This book deserves pride of place on the bookshelf in every Canadian Home. It is no accident that the cover of this book is based on the Canadian flag. For the proud truth is that this volume represents a great national achievement. From its formal inception in 1979, this encyclopedia has always represented a vote of faith in Canada; in Canada as a separate place whose natural worlds and whose peoples and their achievements deserve to be recorded and celebrated. At the start of a new century and a new millennium, in an increasingly borderless corporate world that seems ever more hostile to nationaldistinctions and aspirations, this "Canadian Encyclopedia is offered in a spirit of defiance and of faith in our future. The statistics behind this volume are staggering. The opening sixty pages list the 250 Consultants, the roughly 4,000 Contributors (all experts in the field they describe) and the scores of researchers, editors, typesetters, proofreaders and others who contributed their skills to this massive project. The 2,640 pages incorporate over 10,000 articles and over 4,000,000 words, making it the largest - some might say the greatest - Canadian book ever published. There are, of course, many special features. These include a map of Canada, a special page comparing the key statistics of the 23 major Canadian cities, maps of our cities, a variety of tables and photographs, and finely detailed illustrations of our wildlife, not to mention the colourful, informative endpapers. But above all the book is "encyclopedic" - which the "Canadian Oxford Dictionary describes as "embracing all branches of learning." This means that (with rare exceptions) there is satisfaction for the reader who seeks information on any Canadian subject. From the first entry "A mari usque ad mare - "from sea to sea" (which is Canada's motto, and a good description of this volume's range) to the "Zouaves (who mustered in Quebec to fight for the beleaguered Papacy) there is the required summary of information, clearly and accurately presented. For the browser the constant variety of entries and the lure of regular cross-references will provide hours of fasination. The word "encyclopedia" derives from Greek expressions alluding to a grand "circle of knowledge." Our knowledge has expandedimmeasurably since the time that one mnd could encompass all that was known.Yet now Canada's finest scientists, academics and specialists have distilled their knowledge of our country between the covers of one volume. The result is a book for every Canadian who values learning, and values Canada.

Intended To Serve The Academic Needs Of The Students Of English Literature, The Companion Is An Ultimate Literary Reference Source, Providing An Up-To-Date, Comprehensive And Authoritative Biographies Of Novelists, Poets, Playwrights, Essayists, Journalists And Critics Ranging From Literary Giants Of The Past To Contemporary Writers Like Peter Burnes (1931-2004), Anthony Powell (1905-2000), Patrick O Brian (1914-2000), Iris Murdoch (1919-1999), Grace Nicholas (1950- ) And Douglas Adams (1952-2001). Over The Last Few Decades English Literary Canon Has Become Relatively More Extensive And Diverse. In Recognition Of The Significance Of The New Literatures In English, Special Emphasis Has Been Given On The Writers Of These Literatures. In Addition, The Indian Writers Writing In English Have Been Given A Prominent Place In The Book, Thereby Making It Particularly Useful For The Students Of Indian English Literature. The Companion Is Unique Of Its Kind As It Gives A Broad Outline Of The Story And Not Merely A Brief Account Of The Plot Structure Of A Literary Work So As To Enable The Students To Have A Fairly Good Idea Of The Story. Likewise, Before Getting Down To The Writings Of An Author, The Companion Provides An Invaluable And Authoritative Biographical Note Believing That An Author S Biography Facilitates Proper Understanding Of His/Her Contributions.On Account Of Its Clear And Reliable Plot Summaries And Descriptive Entries Of Major Works And Literary Journals And Authentic Biographical Details, The Companion Is A Work Of Permanent Value. It Is Undoubtedly An Indispensable And Path-Breaking Handy Reference Guide For All Those Interested In Literatures In English Produced In The United Kingdom, The United States, Canada, Australia, Africa, The Caribbean, India And Other Countries.

“[Metcalf’s] talent is generous, hectoring, huge, and remarkable.”—Washington Post In Temerity & Gall, Metcalf looks back on a lifetime spent in letters; surveys, with no punches pulled, the current state of CanLit; and offers a passionate defense of the promise and potential of Canadian writing. In a 1983 editorial letter to the Globe and Mail, celebrated Canadian novelist W.P. Kinsella railed that “Mr. Metcalf—an immigrant—continually and in the most galling manner has the temerity to preach to Canadians about their own literature.” Forty years later, in spite of Kinsella’s effort to discredit him in the name of a misguided nationalism both embarrassing and familiar, John Metcalf still has the temerity and gall to preach, to teach, and to write passionately (and uproariously) about literature in Canada. Part memoir, meditation, and apologia, part criticism and pure Metcalf, the present volume distills a lifetime of reading and writing, thinking and collecting, and continues his necessary work kicking against the ever-present pricks. As is the case with all of his critical work, Temerity & Gall will challenge, delight, anger, and inspire in equal measure, and is essential reading for anyone interested in literature in Canada and its place within the wider tradition of writing in English. Temerity & Gall is printed in a limited paperback edition of 750 copies signed and numbered by the author.

Hailed as a landmark in Canadian literary scholarship when it was originally published in 1965, the Literary History of Canada is now being reissued, revised and enlarged, in three volumes. This major effort of a large group of scholars working in the field of English-language Canadian literature provides a comprehensive, up-to-date reference work. It has already proven itself invaluable as a source of information on authors, genres, and literary trends and influences. It represents a positive attempt to give a history of Canada in terms of writings which deserve attention because of significant thought, form, and use of language. Volume 3 has been newly written for this edition of the History, and covers the years from about 1960 to 1974. The contributors to this volume are Claude Bissell, Desmond Pacey, Lauriat Lane, jr, Michael S. Cross, Thomas A. Goudge, John Webster Grant, John H. Chapman, William E. Swinton, Henry B. Mayo, Malcolm Ross, Brandon Conron, Clara Thomas, Sheila A. Egoff, John Ripley, William H. New, George Woodcock, and Northrop Frye.