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Book Review: A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon

September 23, 2006 / Monique

Everyone goes through a spot of bother at some point in life. Some of us go through a spot of bother daily–minor things that niggle away at our brain, things that make us doubt what we know or believe to be right. The four main characters in A Spot of Bother go through this hourly.

There’s George. Father of the family. Presumed (by himself only) to be dying of cancer. The doctor says it’s eczema.

There’s Jean. Mother of the family. Been having an affair for several years without complication. Now that George is retired (and fearing he is dying of cancer), he follows her around like a puppy. The foreign attention makes Jean paranoid that George has discovered her affair.

There’s Katie. Daughter. About to be married (for the second time). The family is “chuffed” that her choice of groom is Ray. Ray is dependable, great with her son Jacob, has money and a house they live in for free, but he’s not really their type–class wise, intelligence wise, they can’t really put their finger on it. Katie is also torn about why she’s marrying Ray. Is it to piss off her mother?

There’s Jamie. Gay as a three dollar bill–when he’s with his friends and with Katie–but straight-laced and rather private with his parents and their neighbours. Coming to Katy’s wedding with his boyfriend Tony will disturb the neighbours, cause his mother to hug Tony like a long-lost son (she knows Jamie is gay but doesn’t talk about it) and cause his father (who also knows Jamie’ is gay) to pat Tony on the back and treat him like an associate or sportsmate of Jamie’s.

A Spot of Bother indeed.

George goes crazy.
Jean calls it off with David.
Katie cancels the wedding.
Ray throws a dustbin.
Tony breaks up with Jamie.
Then I can’t tell you what happens because it will ruin the ending for you.

A Spot of Bother is as funny as his first book The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

There’s a website for the book aspotofbotherbooks.com, which is also tres drole.

The opening image is an invitation to Katie and Ray’s wedding:

Quote: George and Jean Hall
Invite you to the (second) wedding of their (tempestuous, stubborn and ferociously tempered) daughter

Katie
who plans to wed

Ray
(an inappropriate hulk with “strangler hands”) on

September 5, 2006

By which time … George, who is losing his mind as politely as he can, and Jean, who is shagging George’s ex-colleague, and Jamie, their gay son who cannot commit to his lover by inviting him to the wedding, and Katie who fears she really doesn’t love Ray … pray that their family madness proves to be nothing more than

a spot of bother.

Listen to an audio excerpt.

I enjoyed Mark Haddon’s A Spot of Bother very much, although I’m secretly pleased not to hear any more about Katie. She was a bad influence on my character. I shall try to be more like calm, dependable Ray from now on.

Join me at WOTS

September 20, 2006 / Monique

Join me at Vancouverís 12th Annual THE WORD ON THE STREET FESTIVAL.
(WOTS for those of us too lazy to say the whole thing.)

WOTS is SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
11 am to 6 pm
Library Square, Vancouver Public Library
Admission: Free

It’s basically a day of fun, books, magazines, cooking and comics.

Here the full event schedule.

At 12:15 I’m on a Book Talks Panel: Writing and the Web
Tyee Books website editor Charles Campbell will moderate a panel featuring Steve Zio, author of Hot Springs: A iNovel; SFU Master of Publishing Progamís technology specialist John Maxwell; me (Raincoast Booksí Internet marketing manager Monique Trottier); and Crawford Kilian, Capilano College teacher, blogger and author of Writing for the Web. Presented by TheTyeeBooks.ca.

If you’re unfamiliar with The Tyee check out their website, in particular the books section. It’s new.

——————
What else goes on at WOTS?
Here are my event picks.

For Hockey Fans
Raincoast is publishing Canucks Legends: Vancouver Hockey Heroes, which chronicles the teamís first four decades through 75 player profiles and more than 300 photos. The book isn’t available until November but there are 25 special advance copies with a bookplate signed by Trevor Linden. The books will be sold by donation with all proceeds going to the Canucks Family Education Centre. Whatís more, Raincoast Books has pledged to match all donations.

More Hockey
Hockey book authors include: author of Canadaís treasured The Hockey Sweater, Roch Carrier; author of Hockey: A Peopleís History, Michael McKinley; and, Ed Willes, author of The Rebel League.

THE WORD UNDER THE STREET presented by Mint Records
** One of my favourite parts of the festival **
Enter the annual Comics Contest, meet Nardwuar the Human Serviette, take an art class with Robin Thompson and a hear a session with the widely acclaimed comics-journalist Joe Sacco. And of course, peruse dozens of great local comix on display for sale. The lovely and talented Eve Corbel and Sarah Leavitt of Geist will be there as well.

MARKETPLACE OF EXHIBITORS
150 exhibitors: Book and magazine publishers, booksellers, literacy and educational organizations, libraries, writersí associations and more will exhibit an array of current and back listed books and magazines to browse through or buy. And itís back: the 9th Annual Book Bag Treasure Hunt.

AUTHORS GALORE
Drop by for readings and events at the Authors Tent, Chapters Indigo Poetís Corner and Canada Writes Tent. Check the event schedule.

See you there.

THE WORD ON THE STREET
One Day Only
11am to 6pm
Sunday September 24, 2006 at Library Square Vancouver
As well as locations in Calgary, Kitchener, Toronto and Halifax
thewordonthestreet.ca

Admission: FREE!

Make the Most of a Writers Conference

September 18, 2006 / Monique

Online Marketing Resources

September 18, 2006 / Monique

I received some nice feedback today from someone who attended the SFU summer workshop in book publishing.

Quote: “I wanted to thank you for your workshop on internet marketing. It proved to be one of the most informative and useful sessions for me. I was wondering if you could recommend any books or websites that would be a good resource to learn more about internet marketing?”

How can you not offer recommended reading after receiving such nice praise? For everyone’s benefit, and as a reminder to me, here’s a short list of resources.

Web Theory
————
Harness the power of the web. How business models need to change to adapt to online markets. If you read anything, read this. The full book is free online. The Cluetrain Manifesto

What Is Web 2.0? Design Patterns and Business Models for the Next Generation of Software
O’Reilly website

Web Stats & Measuring Success
————————–
Work Industries blog on web strategy.
Post on How to Read Webstats

The four general questions that you should ask yourself to measure your online ad or websiteís return on investment.
Chief Marketer website

Search Engine Optimization, Email Newsletters, Etc.
——————————————-
http://www.researchbuzz.org/wp/
http://www.highrankings.com/

Blogs
——
Search engine for blogs. See what people are searching for, talking about online. You’ll find great resources if you search for “web strategy”, “online marketing”, “user testing”, “search engine optimization.”
http://www.technorati.com/

A Spot of Brilliant Cover Design

September 17, 2006 / Monique

Mark Haddon has a new novel, A Spot of Bother.

My friend Patricia over at BookLust and I enjoy Mark Haddon’s book design. So I hope she likes this cover as much as I do.

A Spot of Bother just arrived in the mail last week and it was very exciting to open up the package. I’d only see the cover online. In person it is quite spectacular.

I haven’t cracked the spine yet but I hope to this afternoon. Yesterday’s New York Times books section said, “Haddon is too gifted and too ambitious to write a hacky second novel. In fact, he’s so wondrously articulate, so rigorous in thinking through his characters’ mind-sets, that ‘A Spot of Bother’ serves as a fine example of why novels exist.”

Pretty high praise. I’ll let you know what I think.

Geist Hits the Festival Scene

September 15, 2006 / Monique

The good folks at Geist magazine are going to be at the Vancouver Word on the Street Festival on Sunday, Sept. 24.

The Geist booth is always fun: they have giveaways and super deals on mag subscriptions and, this year, the forthcoming Geist Atlas of Canada.

Get in the literary mood with the Geist-sponsored Haiku Night in Canada, on the Main Stage at 2:20 pm. Also Geist your way over to the Magazine Mews stage at 4 pm for a panel on getting published in magazines.

And if you don’t like sunlight, visit Geisters and comix phenoms Eve Corbel and Sarah Leavitt at Word Under the Street, in the basement of the library.

Eve Corbel and Sarah Leavitt have officially adopted the comix artist Joe Sacco for the day. They’ll be displaying their comix wares all day: Slug Noir, Small Dogs Haiku, Ex-Husbands from Hell, Why Editors Have No Friends, and more. There’s lots of fun, comics drawing contests and other cool stuff.

Not in Vancouver but need a Geist fix?

In Toronto at Word on the Street, Geist teams up with Maisonneuve (another great mag).

In Kitchener, Geist is part of the action in Victoria Park.

And Geist sightings will be recorded in Calgary and Halifax.

(BTW: If you’re interested in the Geist Atlas of Canada, you can order before September 30th and receive a 30% discount. Need more details?)

Busy at the PNE, Birthdays and Days at the Beach

September 12, 2006 / Monique

Check out Flickr for photos on what I’ve been up to lately.

I still owe John Maxwell a response about The Long Tail. It’s coming.

Review: Before I Wake by Robert J. Wiersema

September 10, 2006 / Monique

I finished reading Robert J. Wiersema’s novel this week, Before I Wake.

It’s the type of book that I really like. There’s a good story, it’s well-written, there’s something smart, clever or quirky going on. It definitely fits the bill.

I know Rob as a bookseller, but I’m very glad that he’s written such a fine novel. It gives me another good reason to buy him a drink.

Before I Wake is a very fine book indeed. It is the type of book I’d like to write. It has magic in all the right places.

Sherry is 3, she gets hit by a truck. It’s devasting to her parents, whose marriage is already on the rocks. When it come time to take Sherry off life support … nothing happens. She stays perfectly healthy. Like a sleeping child, she stays, unchanged, in the family living room. Until one day her nurse notices that her arthritis has disappeared. Her doctor is stunned. Sherry lies there like an angel. Is she an angel, a healer? The nurse brings over her sister, who is clearly on her last legs. Another miracle. The sister’s cancer goes into remission. These events set the stage for the rest of the novel. Long lines form of believers who want to be healed. Crowds of Christian protestors appear, determined to proclaim that Sherry is the devil’s work. There’s a long-standing battle of good and evil that’s also taking place in the heart of the driver of the truck.

Before I Wake is good for a read, but if there are any academically minded folks out there looking for a new novel to add to the CanLit curriculm, Before I Wake offers a lot to think about.

Here are some photos of the book launch from last week:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/somisguided/

Bolloxed Is Full of Testicular Delight

September 9, 2006 / Monique

I saw my first Vancouver Fringe play ever. Bolloxed.

Bolloxed is written by my friend Darren Barefoot. It’s about a Canadian programmer working for an American anti-spam company in Ireland. He simultaneously meets the girl of his dreams and gets incredible pain in his balls.

I thought the play was hilarious. There’s a cast of two and they play several different secondary characters as well the main love interests.

I don’t want to spoil the plot twists so I’ll just tell you it ended with an excellent piece of ass. It’s your job to go watch the play, I’m not going to tell you anything else.

I should mention it’s not X-rate, it’s not potty humour; it’s good adult fun: lots of puns, quirkiness and double meanings. My only criticism was it ended too early. I wanted more.

BOLLOXED: A new comedy by Darren Barefoot

CBC Radio Stage 6: Playwrights Theatre Centre

Sat, Sept 9 at 9:00 pm
Sun, Sept 10 at 1:30 pm
Tues, Sept 12 at 5:30 pm
Sat, Sept 16 at 11:00 pm
Sun, Sept 17 at 7:30 pm

Get Tickets to Bolloxed.

Bolloxed at The Fringe

September 7, 2006 / Monique

My friend Darren Barefoot has a play at The Fringe Festival in Vancouver. He wrote it, which means I now know a playwright. Could come in handy some day.

The play opens tomorrow.

BOLLOXED: A new comedy by Darren Barefoot

CBC Radio Stage 6: Playwrights Theatre Centre
Thurs, Sept 7 at 5:30 pm
Sat, Sept 9 at 9:00 pm
Sun, Sept 10 at 1:30 pm
Tues, Sept 12 at 5:30 pm
Sat, Sept 16 at 11:00 pm
Sun, Sept 17 at 7:30 pm

An intrepid Canuck meets the girl of his dreams in Dublin, but will the clash of cultures kill the romance? This off-the-wall love story chronicles the misadventures of a man on a mission in a country that doesn’t understand him. He’s bolloxed.