May 17 | Mark McConaghy

China behind the headlines: Lou Ye and the vitality of Chinese independent cinema

Canadians are daily inundated with news reports concerning the “rise of China,” as visions of that country’s latest economic mega-project flood our television screens. Universities and governments have flocked to China, both literally and figuratively, producing mountains of discourse concerning the new “global superpower” and how Canada should interact with it. Yet how can an average Canadian reach behind the shiny images of soaring skyscrapers and booming assembly lines to gain a sense of everyday life in the country? How have average Chinese men and women experienced the massive economic transformations they have lived through? When people ask these questions, I tell them time and again: watch Chinese independent cinema. There is a vast visual archive right in front of… Keep reading

May 16 | Michael Bacal

The brief literary history of a cocktail: The Gin and Tonic

Like the Mint Julep, the Gin and Tonic is of unusual provenance. Similarly born out of a unique historical conjuncture of East and West, the seemingly timeless combination of gin, lime, sugar, and tonic water came into being almost by pure chance, at the intersections of colonialism, modern medicine and, well, boredom. The now famous drink was invented by a group of British soldiers stationed in India in the early 19th century, who undertook several experiments to make their acrid malaria medication passably quaffable. Once the quinine used to treat their malaria was mixed with sugar and lime, it was really only a matter of time before something boozy entered into the equation. Not long afterwards, the G and T arrived in its imperial home to… Keep reading

May 14 | Trevor Abes

Forging Connections at the Toronto Comic Arts Festival

The Toronto Comic Arts Festival (2013) was not your average convention. People weren’t dressed in carefully considered costumes or walking around in character stockpiling freebies indiscriminately. Set in the Toronto Reference Library over the second weekend of May, the intimate space lent itself to discovery and spontaneous conversation more than sweaty-palmed, star struck fervor. TCAF opened its doors to the simply curious and the comic-obsessed with equal grace, focusing attention on creators and their work. Caitlin Cass, an artist based in Buffalo, NY, is the founder of Great Moments in Western Civilization, a cooperative dedicated to picking and blending stories from history. Her work draws on influences from Heraclitus to Paddington Bear in a poetic attempt to fit the whole world… Keep reading

May 13 | Ange Friesen

Choosing genres, missing art, and Wes Anderson presents the Bible: Bookishness for May 13, 2013

What to expect when you’re expecting a book “I waited until my first book was published to learn the genre, and when Oprah announced “It’s literary fiction!” just seconds after my pub date, I was overcome with joy. When we found out that I’d written a second book, however, we decided to find out ourselves what it was. A genre reveal party, in which we’d learn the genre of the book at the same time as one hundred of our closest friends and family seemed like a fun way to go!” How to host a genre reveal party. Look closer “When first approaching the artwork of Japanese artist Takahiro Iwasaki it’s entirely possible you might miss it altogether.” (via.) Point Break as directed… Keep reading

May 10 | Naomi Joseph

Punishing Wealth: The Great Gatsby’s Critics in 2013

Why is the opulence of The Great Gatsby so controversial? Thanks to Baz Luhrmann’s production, the book has a new set of critics with a common refrain: Gatsby-esque affluence is bad news. “Did anyone actually read The Great Gatsby?” asks Zachary M. Seward in Quartz, citing the perennial popularity of Gatsby-themed parties before complaining that “so many people seem enchanted enough by the decadence described in Fitzgerald’s book to ignore its fairly obvious message of condemnation.” In her article in Vulture, “Why I Despise The Great Gatsby,” Kathryn Schulz laments Gatsby-inspired consumerism before dismissing the book as an emotionless vehicle for condemning “the degeneracy of the wealthy,” in which Fitzgerald is “more offended by pleasure than by vice.” For Richard… Keep reading

| Trevor Abes

Record Store Review: Kops Records

Founded in 1976 with a focus on soul music and mod subculture, Kops Records (229 Queen St. West) is Toronto’s oldest independent record store. It’s known for housing the largest selection of seven inch 45s in Canada and for an abiding dedication to musical roots. According to General Manager Patrick Grant, “[Kops] specializes in unveiling to people the roots of stuff that they like. We’re trying to provide [records] that elaborate on tastes you already have.” In this way, you can walk in listening to The Fugees’ “Killing Me Softly” (1995) and walk out – with two LPs under your arm – having learned that its memorable sitar riff is sampled from A Tribe Called Quest’s “Bonita Applebum” (1990) which… Keep reading

May 9 | Mark McConaghy

Borderless Cinema: Edward Yang’s YiYi

Inaugurating “Borderless Cinema,” our new series profiling lesser-known gems of world cinema, this essay reviews “YiYi”, written and directed by Edward Yang. Starring Nien-Jen Wu, Elaine Jin, and Issei Ogata. Running time 173 minutes. Available on DVD via Criterion Collection. Edward Yang’s Yi Yi (A One and a Two) is the final work of one of the most important Taiwanese directors of the last 30 years. Set over the course of one year in the life an upper-middle class family in Taipei, the nearly three hour film is an intergenerational tapestry that touches on love, death, and life’s meaning amidst its seemingly unavoidable disappointments. The film possesses the slow-building texture of a great novel. The year begins when the aged… Keep reading

May 8 | Rob Lederer

The no-spin zone: A review of Jonathan Dee’s ‘A Thousand Pardons’

Reviewed in this essay: A Thousand Pardons, by Jonathan Dee. Random House, 2013. Lance Armstrong could have used a hand from Helen Armstead, the inexperienced public relations guru at the heart of Jonathan Dee’s novel A Thousand Pardons. Whereas Armstrong’s stone-faced mea culpa was undermined by years of deceit, Helen would have had him prostrate before the public from the very start. That, we are told, is her gift: “She got powerful men to apologize.” For a writer so recently nominated for the Pulitzer Prize (his previous novel, The Privileges, was shortlisted in 2011), Dee has received scant praise for his latest release. Despite its missteps, A Thousand Pardons asks timely questions about the function of political spin, in an… Keep reading

May 6 | Jessica Duffin Wolfe

TRB Issue Six: Small and Sundry

Welcome to Issue Six of The Toronto Review of Books, our charismatic first offering in a new punchier issue format. In this single-sitting issue size, we’re cutting through the noise to bring you six pieces that matter. You’ll attend succinct gatherings in our new short issues—the kind of conversations that are worth joining because they’re big enough to be sundry and small enough to be intimate. In Issue Six, the chat travels wide and far. Language battles in Pakistani literature come into relief in Meghan Davidson Ladly’s story about Challawa, a work of Urdu lesbian erotica. Two essays look at the state of Canadian history: Michael Morden reviews 1812.gc.ca, the portal for the Harper Government’s commemorations of the War of 1812,… Keep reading