Thoughts on culture, education, and having been a Canadian in the US
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Here’s the book I’m hoping they don’t choose to read this fall

One of the things I’m doing this fall in my contemporary Canadian literature course is having the students propose and, by election, select the final book that we will study in the course.

The great thing about this exercise is that it will oblige them to start looking to see what’s out there. The other fun thing about it is that they and I will likely be discovering this book simultaneously. I’m looking forward to going along with whatever they choose.

That said, here’s the book I’m hoping they won’t pick, even if it is written by a fellow Albertan. I’m looking forward to reading it eventually, though. The website for the book has some great features.

If you’re interested in reading Paul Anderson’s Hunger’s Brides: A Novel of the Baroque, you can buy the Canadian edition right now from Northwest Passages.

3 comments

1 Paul Anderson { 08.29.05 at 8:25 am }

Well, if the worst should come to pass, I’d be happy to help out with a posting or two for your class. Anything for a fellow Albertan (if your name’s not Klein).
Best,
Paul
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Paul Anderson, Hunger’s Brides.
http://www.hungersbrides.com
Based on the life of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz in 17th-century Mexico.
Published by: Random House (Canada), Carroll & Graf (US), Rubikon (Serbia), Constable & Robinson (UK), Pendo Verlag (Germany).

2 Paul Martin { 08.29.05 at 1:36 pm }

Wow! Great to see you here, Paul. Thanks for visiting the blog. Of course, the only reason I was hoping the students wouldn’t choose your book was that I am hoping they will choose something short for me to read at the end of the semester while I’m grading essays.
Would you be up for an author interview I could post at Northwest Passages? We had a flurry of e-mails looking for copies of the Canadian first edition after the story hit the NY Times.

3 Paul Anderson { 09.11.05 at 8:44 am }

Hi Paul,
Sure thing — I’d be happy to do an interview. I’m on the road quite a bit for the next couple of months, but as long as I have good computer access it should be fine.
In the medium term, I’d like to work on some academic study guides for the novel. But I think the reading group guides I just finished for the website might make for a good discussion template — not that I’m trying to foist that as a project on your class.
What I wanted to do was provide 3 different but matching topic / response sets to promote interaction:
readers questions
moderator response and stimulus questions
author commentary
I’d be curious to hear what you think. (I think you have my email address, but if not you can use the contact us link at the bottom of each page.)
http://www.hungersbrides.com/BookClubsCentral.html
Best,
Paul