Classics of Canadian Non-Fiction
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CAPTURED BY THE IROQUOIS
From The Explorations by Pierre-Esprit Radisson
SWORD SWALLOWING ON THE TUNDRA
From A Journey to the Northern Ocean by Samuel Hearne
NOOTKA CUSTOMS
From Narrative of the Adventures and Sufferings by John Jewitt
A BACKWOODS HOUSE-RAISING
From The Backwoods of Canada by Catherine Parr Traill
UNCLE JOE AND HIS FAMILY
From Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie
AN OCEAN OF GRASS
From The Great Lone Land by William Francis Butler
BINGO
From Wild Animals I Have Known by Ernest Thompson Seton
BATHED IN BLISS
From Cosmic Consciousness by Richard Maurice Bucke
WE HAVE NO KNIVES
From My Life with the Eskimo by Vilhjalmur Stefansson
JELLY ROLL AND ME
From Pilgrims of the Wild by Grey Owl
D’SONOOUA
From Klee Wyck by Emily Carr
JUNE
From A River Never Sleeps by Roderick Haig-Brown
THE FIRST OF JULY, 1867
From John A. MacDonald: The Young Politician by Donald Creighton
A NIGHT CRAWL IN WINNIPEG
From Canada Made Me by Norman Levine
IN SEARCH OF WHITEMUD
From Wolf Willow by Wallace Stegner
AN EVENING WITH JAMES JOYCE
From That Summer in Paris by Morley Callaghan
THE DIEFENBAKER PHILOSOPHY
From Renegade in Power by Peter C. Newman
BEFORE WE WERE FAMOUS
From Memoirs of Montparnasse by John Glassco
NORWAY HOUSE
From Reservations Are for Indians by Heather Robertson
CRAIGELLACHIE
From The Last Spike by Pierre Berton
BREAKING PRAIRIE SOD
From Homesteader by James M. Minifie
SHELTER FROM THE STORM
From Death on the Ice by Cassie Brown
CANLIT CRASH COURSE
From Survival by Margaret Atwood
THE IMPULSE OF SAVAGERY
From A Whale for the Killing by Farley Mowat
TWO SOLITUDES
From Halfbreed by Maria Campbell
OSSIFICATION OF NATlVE SOCIETY
From Prison of Grass by Howard Adams
HUNGER MARCH TO EDMONTON
From All of Baba’s Children by Myrna Kostash
MOTHERS AND DAUGHTERS
From Lily Briscoe: A Self Portrait by Mary Meigs
MAPS OF DREAMS
From Maps and Dreams by Hugh Brody
TROPICAL GOSSIP AND KEGALLE
From Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje
BACKYARD BALL HOCKEY
From The Game by Ken Dryden
LIFE IN A NEW LANGUAGE
From Lost in Translation by Eva Hoffman
FIRE
From The Danger Tree by David Macfarlane
FURTHER READING
Imagining Ourselves gathers together selections from Canadian non-fiction books that in some way have had a major impact on how we view ourselves as Canadians, revealing how the national identity has been shaped and informed by the written word. Included are selections from such well-known Canadian books as Wild Animals I Have Known (Ernest Thomas Seton), Pilgrims of the Wild (Grey Owl), Klee Wyck (Emily Carr), The Game (Ken Dryden), Renegade in Power (Peter C. Newman), Survival (Margaret Atwood), and The Last Spike (Pierre Berton).
"Time and again, Francis displays an enviable talent to reveal his writers at their most attractive." - The Literary Review of Canada
"A superb sampling of Canadian non-fiction." - The Financial Post