The concept of father memoirs is a fascinating one. Confronting fathers directly and publicly is not, and never has been, easy: the patriarch should judge and not be judged. To write about the father is to sit in judgement upon him, and for most cultures this was a taboo too strong to be overcome. The Greeks, despite their searingly perceptive stories about father child interactions, did not attempt to do so-nor did the Romans, the Italians of the Renaissance, the Elizabethans, or even the Romantics. Paradoxically--but not surprisingly, given the rigid paternalism of the age and the attendant psychological pressures--personal father writing, like radical feminism, is a product of the Victorian era.

In 1907, six years after the death of Queen Victoria, Edmund Gosse published Father and Son. Once the taboo was broken, writers were quick to take advantage of the new possibilities. The 20th century saw a steady increase in the number of father memoirs, and, now that the boomers are aging and seeking to immortalize themselves, such memoirs are becoming as ubiquitous as tattoos. And, as with tattoos, some are visceral works of art. The six books described below give an idea of how poignant, rich and rewarding father memoirs can be.

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We at McNally Robinson are thrilled to host one of the most unique new voices in dark fantasy fiction here at the store this evening. Michael Rowe is an award-winning journalist, and literary nonfiction writer whose essays, articles, and reviews have appeared in many publications including the Globe & Mail, The Advocate, and The Huffington Post, as well as CFQ, The Scream Factory, All-Hallows, among many others. For 17 years he was the first-tier Canadian correspondent for Fangoria.

He has won the Lambda Literary Award, the Randy Shilts Award, and the Spectrum Award, and has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award, the Associated Church Press Award, and the International Horror Guild Award. As the creator and editor of the critically acclaimed horror anthologies Queer Fear and Queer Fear 2, he was hailed by Clive Barker in 2002 as having "changed forever the shape of horror fiction." He is married and lives in Toronto.

His first novel, Enter, Night is another triumph from independent publisher ChiZine Publications and is being launched in Winnipeg tonight at 7:30 pm at an event hosted by Winnipeg's own horror maestra Susie Moloney. This event is a homecoming of sorts, as Rowe attended St. John's Cathedral Boys' School in Selkirk from 1977 to 1981. More coverage of his time here and the book itself can be found in articles at the Winnipeg Free Press ("Enter, Anti-Twilight) and Outwords ("A vampire story from the heart").

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The Table Comes First$29.95 add to cart

In 2011, the CBC Massey Lectures celebrate the fiftieth anniversary with bestselling author, essayist and cultural observer Adam Gopnik. A transplanted Canadian and writer for the New Yorker, Gopnik has won the National Magazine Award for Essays and for Criticism three times, and the George Polk Award for Magazine Reporting. He is is the author of the international bestseller Paris to the Moon; Through the Children's Gate: A Home in New York; and Angels and Ages: A Short Book about Darwin, Lincoln, and Modern Life.

In this year's CBC Massey Lecture,Winter, he takes us on an intimate tour of the artists, poets, composers, writers, explorers, scientists and thinkers who helped shape a new and modern idea of winter. An enchanting homage to an idea of a season and captivating journey through the modern imagination.

In his new book, The Table Comes First, Gopnik delivers a beguiling tour of the morals and manners of our present, and perhaps misguided, food manias. He argues we are losing sight of a timeless truth: what goes on around the table (family life, conversation) is as important as what we put on the table. How we eat, not what we eat, ultimately defines us.

 

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Stories About Storytellers$32.95 add to cart

It was reported in the Winnipeg Free Press that Douglas Gibson would be in McNally Robinson's Grant Park location tonight, however please be advised that his presentation will in fact be tomorrow: Wednesday October 12th.

Event information below:

This is a special theatrical presentation from esteemed editor, publisher and raconteur Douglas Gibson based around his book Stories About Storytellers: Publishing Alice Munro, Robertson Davies, Alistair MacLeod, Pierre Trudeau, and Others (ECW Press).

Stories About Storytellers follows the legendary Doug Gibson through 40 years of editing and publishing some of Canada?s sharpest minds and greatest storytellers. Gibson is a terrific storyteller himself, and through his recollections we get an inside view of Canadian politics and publishing that rarely gets told. From Jack Hodgins? Vancouver Island to Harold Horwood?s Labrador, from Alice Munro?s Ontario to James Houston?s Arctic, Doug Gibson takes us on an unforgettable literary tour of Canada, going behind the scenes and between the covers, and opening up his own story vault for all to read and enjoy.

Douglas Gibson worked as an editor and publisher from 1968 until he retired from McClelland & Stewart in 2009. His Douglas Gibson Books was Canada?s first editorial imprint and lives on. He travels widely from his Toronto, ON, base.