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This is what 77,000 books looks like

Joseph's hat next to the centre aisle of his store on St-Hubert.
St-Hubert between Jean-Talon and Villeray never ceases to amaze me. I'm continually coming across stores that I never noticed before. Joseph A.M.I. des livres is one such store. The reason I've probably never seen this one is because, for starters, it appears nearly impossible to get in the door. It would be no exaggeration to say that it is wall-to-wall books.

Last weekend on our way home from the library, my kids and I ran into the owner, Joseph himself, bringing in his sidewalk display. I stuck my head in the door to look around.

"I don't think that I've ever seen so many books in one place before," I said.
"I have 77,000 books in the store, in at least 12 languages," he said proudly. "I even have some books that I'm not even sure what the language is."
"Funny," I said, "I've never seen you open before."
"I'm only open on the weekends," said Joseph.
"And sometimes only on Sundays from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm if my grandchildren come over on Saturday."

I brought my head back outside for some fresh air. As you can imagine, the air was pretty stuffy in Joseph's store. But I had to ask the obvious question, "Why so many books?" I asked.
"It was for my retirement," he said. "I wanted to open a bookstore."

I could see that on the shelves, the books appeared to be in some order. It was the stacks on the floor that seemed to be haphazardly arranged, almost like they'd been put there in a hurry.
"So what does your wife think of your store?" I joked.
"Ah . . ." he said then sticking out his bottom lip, "she thinks it's a waste of money, but she puts up with it because it's my hobby," he said.

I thanked him and headed down the street with my kids. I smiled. His wife is probably just relieved that all those books were not in her basement.

Joseph A.M.I. des livres
7461 St-Hubert
Montreal, QC
514-277-6917

Other hood-related posts:
Expozine 2011
Occupons Montréal in Photos
Bixi: 2012 Recap
Churros: The Uruguayan
Who's a Cyclopathe
Neon Icon: Miss Villeray
New Digs and Swedish Thrillers
The Haitian Barber






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Expozine 2011

Richard Suicide and Iris's last show
On Saturday afternoon, I stopped by Expozine, Montreal's 10th annual small press, comic and zine fair. It was a balmy grey November afternoon, and the St-Enfant Jésus church basement was just as hot as it was last year. Le déo était de rigueur. There was the usual wide assortment of zines and comics, from the basic, hand-drawn, hand-stapled zines to some of the more spiffy, slick digital editions. The place was packed, and it was hard at times to make my way through the crowd.

The Expozine is a place where I often get carried away and spend a lot of dough. With that in mind, I went with just $15 cash, which meant I had to wander off to the bank machine to get more money. This had it's disadvantages. I'd found the perfect gift for my father, the Stephen Harper colouring and activity book, mocking our somewhat . . . unpopular prime minister. Montreal Mirror cartoonist Dave Rosen was selling his oeuvre for a mere $15, but when I returned with the cash, he'd already gone home. Rats!

Iris's Collection of Posters and Zines
I also discovered Iris and Richard Suicide, who were sitting side by side. Their style was brimming with humour. I picked up the above poster from their recent opening at the Cheval Blanc and The Best of Iris: One Nighters and Felix and Rocky vs. Tante Mario, which I read as soon as I got home.

I also happened upon a very amusing display of simple house cats. Author Sherwin Tija has created a Pick-A-Plot book, You Are a Cat. In this very creative narrative, you, the reader, become the cat, Holden Catfield, and you live one of his nine lives. On page two, Holden Catfield is chasing a squirrel up a tree. At the end of the page the reader is given the choice of 1) continuing to chase the squirrel or 2) deciding to turn around and jump down from the tree. I chose the second option and was instructed to continue the story on page 4. On that page, I, Holden Catfield, was stuck in a tree, but then I wake up and I am at home next to Girl. I then go to eat some stale cat food and look out the flap in the door to go out. Again I, the reader, have a choice of what to do: 1) I can go outside, in which case I must turn back to page 3, or 2) I can stay inside and nap in a sunbeam and continue the story on page 17. The reader`s life as Holden continues in this way until Holden dies / or is killed, using up one of his nine lives. I loved this book and had a lot of fun going to the bookstore (in the story), scratching the bejezus out of  a mean stranger and sadly, getting hit by a car.

Sherwin Tija was also handing out flyers for a Strip Spelling Bee on December 21. A strip spelling bee is like strip poker only  multi-syllable words are used instead of a deck of cards. In other words, bad spellers should dress warmly.
 
The Expozine seems to get more popular every year. The only disappointment this time around was that Microcosm Press was not there. The Portland-based zine publisher had some shipping problems because of U.S. Thanksgiving. I guess I'll just have to go and buy all my favourite zines online.

Other things in the hood:
Occupons Montréal in Photos
Bixi: 2012 Recap
Churros: The Uruguayan
Who's a Cyclopathe
Neon Icon: Miss Villeray
New Digs and Swedish Thrillers
The Haitian Barber
Good Morning Villeray
Creole Cuisine 



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Review: The Blue Dragon by Robert Lepage and Marie Michaud

The Blue Dragon
by Robert Lepage and Marie Michaud
Illustrations by Fred Jourdain
House of Anansi Press

It will come as no surprise that world-renowned multimedia artist Robert Lepage has branched out into the realm of the graphic novel. But of course, not wanting to be hemmed in by a strict number of frames and pages, Lepage gave Quebec illustrator Fred Jourdain the opportunity not to simply make a graphic novel, but to create a graphic representation of Lepage and Marie Michaud’s The Blue Dragon.


Jourdain’s graphic version is intended to be a snapshot in time of the stage play, which even includes last minute dialogue updates to reflect the most recent performance (at the time in London). Jourdain’s only ground rule for this two-year project was that it had to reflect the stage production 100%. The result is a stunning 176-page work, combining pen and ink drawings, Chinese calligraphy, digital colour and a few innovative twists to the traditional graphic novel layout.

In The Blue Dragon, the reader meets art dealer Pierre Lamontagne, the central character in the Dragon’s Trilogy, twenty years later in Shanghai. At the airport in the opening scene, Lamontagne greets Claire Laforêt, a former lover from art school. A 46-year-old ad agency owner, Claire has come to China for a specific purpose, which she hopes will bring greater meaning to her life. A romance is briefly rekindled between the two, but unresolved conflicts surface, leading to confrontation over their respective life choices. Claire’s re-emergence also impacts Lamontagne’s current relationship with the much younger Xiao Ling, a young Chinese artist exhibiting her work at Pierre’s gallery. Xiao Ling has to face an important life choice, which fills Claire with hope. The intersection of the three characters leads to irrevocable change in their lives. All of this takes place in the rapidly changing landscape of modern China.

Best-known for his illustrations of jazz, rock and film stars, Fred Jourdain had never completed a full-length bande dessinée before. Lepage and his theatre company, Ex-Machina, selected the 26-year-old mainly for his highly cinematographic style, his sense of mood, treatment of ambiance and his focus on the feelings and expressions of his characters.

A major challenge for Jourdain was dealing with large chunks of dialogue. In many instances, the artist opted for detailed double-page scenes with the dialogue entered unobtrusively in the margins, a great solution for what would have otherwise been heavy speech balloons. Jourdain also did a fabulous job of creating ambiance through colour and establishing pace and mood with double-page metaphorical illustrations without any dialogue. Perhaps the most appealing aspect in this adaptation was page layout. Unlike some graphic novelists who use the same number of panels throughout their work, Jourdain’s layout changed with every page, offering the reader an element of surprise and making The Blue Dragon more art than graphic novel.

And like all good art, it is possible to go through Jourdain’s interpretation many times, finding something new with each reading. Although some of the illustrations of the characters are a little too static at times, overall it’s a superb piece of art by an emerging artist whom we’re bound to hear more of in the future.

The more-art-than-comic approach to The Blue Dragon may be the stroke of genius to win over the reluctant adult who still sees the graphic novel as strictly for kids. What’s more, because Lepage has reportedly no immediate plans to make any other graphic representations of his work, my guess is that this little gem may soon become a collector’s item.

This review has been cross-posted at Rover Arts.

Other Reviews:
Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter by Carmen Aguirre
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
Dogs at the Perimeter by Madeleine Thien
Going Down Swinging by Billie Livingston
Incendiary by Chris Cleave
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell 
The Girl Without Anyone by Kelli Deeth
Drive-By Saviours by Chris Benjamin



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Bixi: 2012 Recap

My New Bike
As you may recall, last spring I said that I would not renew my Bixi membership because of the hideous advertising the company chose to add to the bikes. Well, with two children to pick up at  various day camps around the city and getting to work through the traffic, I had to eat crow and continue to use our public bike system. It was just too convenient. But how did it compare with the previous two seasons?

This was another stellar year for Bixi, Montreal's public bike system, with 4,174,917 trips, a 25% increase over 2010. Other good news: there are some 40,000 yearly subscribers, which is up 24% from last year, and the operating deficit shrunk from $7.2 million to $3.2 million. Sales on the international front were fair, but not as good as expected. But never mind the sales. What was 2012 like for users? This being my third year, I have a few comments to make, both good and bad. Let`s start with the positive.

The Good
Bixi was the fastest way to get around our construction-ridden city last summer.

Our public bike was also available until November 15 this year. Next year, December 1 would be even better.

Bixi was far too convenient for me to give up, even after the cheesy advertising was added.

Compared to owning a bike, Bixi is almost hassle-free. It`s a pain to have to find a place to lock up my new bike every time I go to the store for milk.

Theft with Bixi is a non-issue. I`d also forgotten about New Bike Angst (NBA) or being too afraid to take my new bike anywhere for fear it will be stolen.

I found that motorists were more considerate or just more aware of cyclists this year; however, many cyclists travel far too fast on the Claire Morissette bike path, making it dangerous for everyone.

The novelty of Bixi has not worn off. It's still the cheapest, healthiest and most pleasant way to get around Montreal.

The Bad
Depending on the time of the year (last June being the worst), the only bikes left were broken or not roadworthy. The company still needs to inform users of the little wrench icon on the dock to report a bike in need of repair.

Expanding service to more city boroughs sounds great in theory, except that everyone is going downtown to work between 8:00 and 9:00 am. In June and July, it was very difficult to find a place to park downtown; all the stations were full. I had to either leave earlier than in the previous two years or drop the Bixi off at the first station with a free space and walk the rest of the way.

I called to report a malfunctioning station twice last summer, and it was never repaired. I know because I used it regularly. When I returned a bike, there was never a ring indicating that the bike had been properly returned. Once I was fined $30 because I had apparently not returned a bike to that very station.

The above three disadvantages are all signs of an organization that grew too fast before ironing out all of its kinks. Bixi still continued to thrive this year because of the enthusiasm of Montrealers and the people working at Bixi. But I doubt other cities will be as enthusiastic. I think they're looking for a turnkey solution with all the logistical and technical problems worked out.

Conclusion
As you can see my feelings are mixed. I still think that Bixi is a great idea, and we may only see the health benefits of the public bike system in a decade's time. But I must confess that I'm still confused about our municipal tax dollars being used to finance/fund/bail out Bixi last spring. From what I've read, it's very difficult to determine who reaps the financial benefits or even who is financially accountable for the entire public bike system. I fear that our beloved Bixi may become a boondoggle for Montreal taxpayers. We must demand clear, transparent reporting and settle for nothing less, or this may become our new Olympic stadium.

Related posts:

The Path of a Cycling Activist
Dear Bixi Chairman Roger Plamondon
Montreal Bixi v. Denver B-Cycle
Bixi: Success For All?
A Review of Montreal's Bixi


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Meet Revolutionary Mother

A few weeks ago, Three O'Clock Press contacted me to meet with an author who had just published her first novel. In addition to being a poet, translator, educator and a political and social activist, this writer had also worked in the Chilean underground movement from the late 1970s to the early 1980s. This new novelist was Carmen Rodriguez, the revolutionary mother of Carmen Aguirre, author of Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter, which is one of the top 10 books selected for this year's CBC Canada Reads competition.

As you will remember,  Something Fierce played over in my mind well after I`d turned the last page (For a full review click here). So needless to say, I was more than a little intimidated to meet Carmen Aguirre's revolutionary mother. But I was also intrigued. I wanted to meet the woman who had cleared paths alone through the Andes, from Argentina to Chile, for four days at a time.

Carmen Rodriguez's book, Retribution, arrived a few days before I met the author. I found this book a highly satisfying and moving read, and like Something Fierce, I was unable to put it down. I met Carmen a half-hour before her reading at the Paragraphe Bookstore on McGill College, here in Montreal. Rodriguez is a petite woman with a broad smile and vibrant personality. One thing I knew after meeting her--no one would ever suspect her of running safe houses in Bolivia and Argentina.
  
Retribution is a story of three generations of Chilean women, spanning 70 years. The narrative opens in Vancouver with granddaughter Tania receiving a letter through the Chilean Consulate informing her that her father may be a man who tortured and raped women during the Chilean coup in 1973. Sol, her mother, is a teacher and left-wing activist, while Soledad, Tania's grandmother, is someone caught in the crossfire between Chile's political extremes. At the time of the coup, the military ransack Soledad's home and beat her severely for the political activities of her two children. The family eventually flees Chile to live in Canada. But unlike many books about the 1973 coup, the book goes well beyond the high drama of this pivotal moment in Chilean history and sheds some light on the devastating emotional trauma that political refugees experience later in their host countries.

When I started to ask Carmen some questions about Retribution, she immediately told me that it was not autobiographical. But as we all know, fiction always has a part of the writer's life in the story. I learned that Retribution had taken 14 years to write. It started with two short stories that eventually fused together to become one. I was interested in some specific details in the book. I learned from the author that 38 Londres Street, Villa Grimaldi, Cuarto Alamos, Tres Alamos, the centres where left-wing activists were tortured, had indeed existed.

But sometimes, it's the less dramatic events in a book that give the narrative its flesh and blood--its realism. In the story, just before the coup in 1973, Sol and her friends are eating in a restaurant when a handful of young men all dressed in black with white swastikas on their shirts and bearing truncheons begin a military demonstration in front of the bewildered restaurant patrons. At the end, the leader reads a speech denouncing international communism and praising the fatherland. The author told me that this event had actually happened to her in 1973.

The complete review of this book and interview with Carmen Rodriguez will be posted at Rover: Montreal Arts Uncovered and on my blog in a month or so.

In the meantime, I`ll be crossing my fingers that Something Fierce makes it to the finals of 2012 Canada Reads.

Related posts:
Review: Something Fierce: Memoirs of a Revolutionary Daughter
Interview with Carmen Aguirre, Chilean Resistance Fighter
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
The Antagonist by Lynn Coady
Irma Voth by Miriam Toews
Dogs at the Perimeter by Madeleine Thien
Going Down Swinging by Billie Livingston
Incendiary by Chris Cleave
Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell 
The Girl Without Anyone by Kelli Deeth


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Review: Munsch at Play, Act Two

Munsch at Play, Act Two: Eight More Stage Adaptations
by Irene N. Watts and Robert Munsch
illustrated by Michael Martchenko

 
Any primary school teacher will tell you that children cannot get enough of Robert Munsch, whose stories have sold 30 million copies around the world, in over a dozen languages. If only some Munsch could be integrated into Math or another subject, then kids would be so much more enthusiastic about learning. Well, his stories can now be offered as part of Dramatic Arts. Yes, Irene N. Watts, an award-winning writer/playwright and theatre director, has adapted eight of Munsch's stories so that they can be performed as plays.

Munsch at Play, Act Two includes some old favourites, such as I Have To Go, David's Father, From Far Away and my personal favourite, Jonathan Cleaned Up--Then He Heard a Sound. Watt's stage adaptations are thorough and set out in simple enough terms so that even a beginner teacher, camp counsellor or parent will be able to stage one of the eight plays. Each adaptation covers the casting, staging, set design, props and costumes. Each performance takes about 10 minutes, depending on the cast size, space and the amount of audience participation. Although the performance may seem short, the play will obviously take much longer to prepare.

In the book's intro, Watts gives some wonderful tips for the person in charge. The plays may serve as something as simple as a reading exercise, but may also be expanded to incorporate some fun acting and miming work in small groups, right up to a full stage performance. And not to worry, Watts obviously realizes that not every child is dramatically inclined and includes some fun hints for non-acting activities, such as creating sound effects. In addition, she knows that not every school, community centre or backyard has a stage, so she makes some innovative suggestions for performance spaces and inexpensive props.

Over all, Munsch at Play is a great way to get kids aged 6 to 9 actively involved in a Munsch story rather than being just passive listeners.

Just a word of advice: you might want to teach your class the basics of acting, staging, set design, props and costumes by starting with I Have to Go rather than The Fire Station or Jonathan Cleaned Up--Then He Heard a Sound, which are more technically demanding.


Other reviews of children and YA books
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
Books for Preschoolers
More Girl Spies Please
50 Poisonous Questions by Tanya Lloyd Kyi
The Trouble with Marlene by Billie Livingston
The Orphan Rescue by Anne Dublin
Dead Time by Christy Ann Conlin

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