Mordecai Richler was once considered one of the greatest shining stars of his literary generation. 
The author, essayist, journalist and screenwriter was known for his controversial opinions on contemporary Canadian politics and culture. He often wrote with biting wit and sharp satire. With the release of his book, “Barney’s Version,” Richler was called “a novelist at the top of his game,” by the Wall Street Journal. MacLean’s magazine said the book was “a feast of non-stop storytelling and arguably Richler’s funniest book yet.”
“Barney’s Version,” is the autobiography of fictional character Barney Panofsky, a flamboyant, perverted and stubborn Montreal producer who believes no one can get along and that life is completely absurd. He is proven somewhat right when his sworn enemy accuses him of abuse, fraud and murder. The story unfolds with Barney recalling his life, three marriages, and the disappearance of the friend whose murder he is charged with.
On the surface Barney is an impossible individual, but his story unfolds to be one of to demonstrate the power of love and family, the frightening process of aging and one’s own death. Barney Panofsky is very much a worthwhile individual not far from you or I. It is a story anyone can relate to and a very good read. The Montreal Gazette referred to it best in saying that “Barney’s Version,” is, “by turns gripping, hilarious, ridiculous and poignant.”
The book would become the winner of the Giller Prize, the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour and the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best Book. It was also a 2004 Canada Read’s selection.
Ten years after Mordecai Richler’s death, and 13 years after the book’s original release, “Barney’s Version,” is making a comback. A film version premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival to rave reviews. A preview of that film is available here.
Margaret Gibson was so obsessed with words she would write until her fingers bled. 
Literally and figuratively, her blood, sweat and tears went into her work.
Diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic as a teenager, it was her therapist who encouraged her to write. And she did. Obsessively. She would go on to pen books of poems, short stories and the screenplay for the cult film “Outrageous,” before she released her first novel, “Opium Dreams,” in 1997.
Gibson’s work was seemingly fiction. But she admittedly wrote heavily on her life, including time spent in a mental institution, a failed marriage, suicide attempts and psychotic episodes to time with her quirky friends and mothering her son. She saw the relationship between art and life as one and the same, saying in an interview, “Art is a distillation of life. Life is mirrored in art. If it is good art, then it is a clearly reflecting mirror.”
“Opium Dreams” is the story of Maggie Glass whose father is suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease. Over a period of years she must watch her father deteriorate, as she comes to grips with his life, their strained relationship and her own battle with psychological illness and epilepsy.
The story sways back and forth between Margaret’s perspective and her father’s unconscious visions of his life, including horrific experiences serving as a tailgunner in World War II, marrying, buildling a home and nurturing a family in Ontario.
Gibson masterfully crafts two complex and complicated characters who are intertwined by chronic illness, united by the deep love and understanding of parent and child.
In a later interview, Gibson describes “Opium Dreams,” as “the most autobiographical book I’ve ever written… It’s like Joan Didion says: “Play it as it lays,” and I do.”
Her publishers recognized this unique style, with Barry Callaghan from Exile Editions saying, “all writers write out of their experiences, but [Gibson] was like an open vein.”
“Opium Dreams,” is an incredible piece of work for understanding complicated relationships, chronic illness and the writer’s own complicated life.
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I was hoping for a smart ass remark from Siri about the NHL being on strike.
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The Case for Drinking as Much Coffee as You Like
“Coffee and caffeine have been inexorably intertwined in our thinking, but truth is coffee...
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Stockard Channing really got the bum deal on these caricatures huh?
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