Tag: A.M. Potter

2023 Giller Prize Windfall

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This year, I fell for two of the five books on Canada’s Giller Prize shortlist: All The Colour In The World by C.S. Richardson and Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton. “Only two?” you say. True. However, for me, two out of five is a windfall. Some years I don’t fall for any.

All The Colour In The World is fast-paced and atmospheric, more prose poem than traditional novel. Birnam Wood unfolds slowly (perhaps too slowly for some), delving deeply into its characters’ motivations. Set largely in Toronto, Richardson’s story deploys short evocative anecdotes; Catton’s relies on lengthy episodic portraits to spin a tale set in New Zealand’s South Island. While All The Colour In The World is a paean to memory and the power of art, Birnam Wood is primarily a novel of ideas, a crucible of eco-idealism, survivalism, and human striving.

Which one would I read again? Both of them.

Local Authors Day at Port Elgin Public Library, Port Elgin, ON. Saturday November 4, 2023

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READ ONTARIO. Meet/talk with local authors at Port Elgin Public Library, 1:00-3:00 PM, Saturday, November 4th, Port Elgin, Ontario. Free to All. Directions | Website

Featuring eight authors, including A.M. (Andy) Potter. Signed copies of The Color Red and Bay of Blood available for purchase.

Author Talk at Blue Mountains Public Library, Thornbury, ON. Saturday October 21, 2023

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Author Talk at Blue Mountains Public Library (L. E. Shore Memorial Library). 11:00 AM, Saturday, October 21st, Thornbury, Ontario. Free to All. Directions | Website

Signed copies of The Color Red and Bay of Blood will be available for purchase.

Click here to reserve a seat and see more Author Talk details on the Blue Mountains Public Library site.

A Down-East Tale with a Faustian Bent

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The Untimely Resurrection of John Alexander MacNeil (sequel to The Unlikely Redemption of John Alexander MacNeil) by Lesley Choyce, 2023.

Reviewed by A.M. Potter. ® 2023

John Alexander MacNeil, aka John Alex, lives in a remote, rundown farmhouse in Nowhere, Cape Breton, an arduous yet idyllic setting. Add a cast of quirky Cape Bretoners and a dance with Death, and you have the makings of a potent Down-East tale with a Faustian bent.

The novel opens with John Alex dying and coming back to life, whereupon he meets Death, whose form resembles that of a local doctor. Being a feisty ninety-year-old, John Alex tells Death to take a hike. He goes on to spurn Death a few times. The man may need to pee constantly, but his blood doesn’t carry a dram of fear. His ancestors were Scottish Highlanders who had nothing to lose.

When Death tries to make a deal with John Alex, saying he’ll spare the old man and instead take someone from his circle, John Alex gives Death the metaphorical finger. JA is not a man for Faustian bargains. But neither is he a typical hero. His knees creak, he loves to nap. As he says, “Anyone would think that by the time you hit ninety, you would have some things figured out. That you might look back on your life and see the sense to it. That you might have a kind of wisdom garnered by years of experience …. But that was certainly not my case.” Regardless, JA is utterly determined. He’s not ready to die. He has people to help.

Ron Corbett’s Kudos for The Color Red

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“The Color Red is a first-class mystery that will keep you guessing until the final pages …. Potter’s vivid and memorable descriptions of Cape Cod will leave you smelling salt air and thinking of the Kennedys.”  

~ Ron Corbett, Author of the Frank Yakabuski and Danny Barrett Series (reviewed in the New York Times), Edgar Award and Arthur Ellis Award Nominee

Corbett’s site: https://www.roncorbettbooks.com/