New Releases This September

Beforelife by Randal Graham (Sept. 5)

What if you went to heaven and no one there believed in Earth? Randal Graham’s Beforelife is a satirical novel that follows the post-mortem adventures of Ian Brown as he tries to find his wife.

“Debut novelist and law professor Graham has hit upon a clever and fruitful concept.” — Kirkus Reviews 

“Finally, a hitchhiker's guide to the hereafter. Making a debut as stellar as it is hilarious, Randal Graham proves himself a true Canuckian heir to the magnificently pun-happy merriment of literary pranksters Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett, and Jasper Fforde. At once a raucous comedy, thrilling adventure, and meta-commentary on the nature of storytelling, Beforelife is an afterlife to die for.” — Corey Redkop, author of Husk

Head of Drama: The Memoir of Sydney Newman with contributions by Graeme Burk

A major influence on the BBC and independent television in Britain in the 1960s, as well as on CBC and the National Film Board in Canada, Sydney Newman acted as head of drama at a key period in the history of television. For the first time, his comprehensive memoirs — written in the years before his death in 1997 — are being made public.

Providing further context to Newman’s memoir is an in-depth biographical essay by Graeme Burk, which positions Newman’s legacy in the history of television, and an afterword by one of Sydney’s daughters, Deirdre Newman.

A Brief History of Oversharing by Shawn Hitchins

Comedian Shawn Hitchins explores his irreverent nature in this debut collection of essays. Nothing is sacred. Like the final scene in a Murder She Wrote episode, A Brief History of Oversharing promises everyone the A-ha! moment Oprah tells us to experience.

“Thank you, Shawn Hitchins, for oversharing. Any loss of dignity you experienced from writing this memoir is a laugh-out-loud-funny gain for the rest of us.” — Rick Mercer

“It takes a special kind of person to write a play-by-play description of masturbation that is simultaneously hilarious, repulsive, and sweet. That person is Shawn Hitchins … His book is at turns bawdy and beautiful … He’s not kidding when he says he’s oversharing, but somehow he makes the mix of raw emotion and salty hilarity work.” — Foreword Reviews

Mad Dog: The Maurice Vachon Story by Pat Laprade & Bertrand Hebert

 Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon was a gold medalist, a pro-wrestling legend, and a pop culture icon — but he was also a son, husband, and father. Mad Dog explores Vachon’s career and personal struggles with painstakingly detailed historical research and through both Maurice’s own recollections and those of the people who knew him best.

“I’ve learned so many things about Maurice. It was very revealing. I couldn’t wait to read more about him, I was really captivated. I already had respect for Maurice; I have even more now.” — Raymond Rougeau, former WWE wrestler and announcer

“After reading this book I now perfectly understand why people were so fascinated with him. It truly captures the essence of who Mad Dog Vachon was.” — WWE Superstar Kevin Owens

Best Canadian Sports Writing edited by Stacey May Fowles & Pasha Malla

This extraordinary anthology of recent writing mixes columns and long-form journalism, profiles and reportage, new voices and well-known favourites such as Stephen Brunt, Rachel Giese, Eric Koreen, Morgan Campbell, and Cathal Kelly.

With its many voices and approaches, Best Canadian Sports Writing expands the genre into more democratic and conversational territory, celebrating the perspectives of both fans and experts alike.

“It’s refreshing to see works by female writers and formerly taboo topics such as sexual assault and minority representation. The stories range from column length to epic, and they cover disparate sports, but all have great writing that holds the book together.” — Publishers Weekly

A Dream Given Form: The Unofficial Guide to the Universe of Babylon 5 by Ensley F. Guffey & K. Dale Koontz

A Dream Given Form is the only comprehensive critical guide to the beloved sci-fi phenomenon Babylon 5.

Nearly 20 years after the show ended, this indispensable companion not only covers all five seasons, but also the feature-length TV movies, the spinoff series Crusade (including three non-produced episodes), The Legend of the Rangers, The Lost Tales, the canonical novels, the DC comic book series, and the short stories set in the Babylon 5 universe. Each season and text is explored thoroughly with an in-depth look at how the individual episodes, books, stories, and comics fit into larger ongoing storylines.

Carefully constructed to be enjoyed by both those who have watched the series multiple times and viewers watching for the first time, A Dream Given Form elucidates without spoiling and illuminates without nitpicking.

The Rights of Nature: A Legal Revolution That Could Save the World by David R. Boyd

A growing body of law around the world supports the idea that humans are not the only species with rights. More laws are being passed recognizing that ecosystems — rivers, forests, mountains, and more — have legally enforceable rights. And if nature has rights, then humans have responsibilities.

“Expertly written case studies in which legalese is accessibly distilled . . . are empowering reminders that the seemingly inevitable slide toward planetary destruction can be halted. Boyd persuasively shows that treating the law as an evolving instrument, combined with public-awareness campaigns and political pressure, can help curb humanity’s worst excesses.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

The Cloud Versus Grand Unification Theory by Chris Banks

A powerful catalogue of loss and human connection, this collection considers not only how our identities are formed by places and experiences rooted in childhood, but also by digital newsfeeds, YouTube, and the “gospel of Spotify.”

Chris Banks is a poet known for packing his lines with thought and feeling. Building on the generous work of John Koethe, Larry Levis, and Ada Limón, Banks’s wildly expansive, often lyric, deeply accessible poems are brilliant meditations on what it means to be human in a brave new world of cloud computing and smart phones.

“There’s a fluid, conversational ease to Banks’s heartfelt meditations, as well a sense of urgency.” — Toronto Star

Panicle by Gillian Sze

In Panicle, Gillian Sze makes her readers look and, more importantly, look again. It’s a collection that challenges our notion of seeing as a passive or automatic activity by asking us to question the process of looking.

“Sze has published yet another outstanding collection, offering us several budding points of conversation, and we have no choice but to follow the natural bifurcations of them, as we are led, dazzlingly, to their many blossoming conclusions.” — Ricepaper Magazine

Whipped by William Deverell

It’s the scoop of the century — a Russian dominatrix videos her session with a top federal cabinet minister. If journalist Lou Sabatino breaks the story, he risks exposing himself to the mercies of the Mafia. So he leaks it to Arthur Beauchamp’s wife, who must defend her from a massive lawsuit.

“The politics are the best part of Whipped — anyone who thinks Deverell exaggerates Ottawa skulduggery just hasn’t been paying attention.” — Winnipeg Free Press

April Fool by William Deverell

In the second Arthur Beauchamp novel, the retired lawyer is dragged back into court to defend an old client, Nick “The Owl” Faloon, a jewel thief accused of rape and murder. Meanwhile, his new wife ensconces in a tree of an old-growth forest to prevent logging. Beauchamp shuttles between Vancouver and the island, doing what he can to defend Faloon, save the forest, and rescue his wife.

Part courtroom thriller, part classic whodunit, April Fool sees Deverell writing at the top of his form, with a big dollop of humour.

The Eddie Dougherty Collection by John McFetridge

Read the mystery series Booklist called “brimming with historical verisimilitude . . . with a richly detailed protagonist and a seriously compelling mystery.” This collection includes all three novels in this gripping police procedural series.

Black Rock: Montreal 1970. The “Vampire Killer” has murdered three women and a fourth is missing. Bombs explode in the stock exchange, and riots break out, and the Canadian army moves onto the streets of Montreal. In the midst of this explosive era in Montreal history, a young beat cop finds himself almost alone hunting the serial killer, as the rest of the force focuses on the FLQ crisis. Constable Eddie Dougherty, the son of a French mother and an Irish-Canadian father, decides to take matters into his own hands to catch the killer before he strikes again.

A Little More Free: Labour Day weekend, 1972. Montreal is getting ready to host the first game in the legendary Summit Series between Canada and the USSR. Three men set fire to a nightclub and Constable Eddie Dougherty witnesses the deaths of 37 people. Against the backdrop of these historic events, Dougherty discovers the body of a murdered young man on Mount Royal. As he tries to prove he has the stuff to become a detective, he is drawn into the world of American draft dodgers and deserters, class politics, and organized crime.

One or the Other: In the weeks before hosting the 1976 Summer Olympics, the Montreal police are tightening security to prevent another catastrophe like the ’72 games in Munich. But it isn’t tight enough to stop nearly $3 million being stolen in a bold daytime Brink’s truck robbery. As the high-profile heist continues to baffle the police, Constable Eddie Dougherty gets a chance to prove his worth as a detective when he’s assigned to investigate the deaths of two teenagers. With tensions running high in the city and his future career at stake, Dougherty faces the limits of the police force and has to decide when justice is the only thing that should be obeyed.