Souvenir Of Canada 2 [Paperback]

From Canadian Sayings to How to Be a Canadian, bookstore shelves are filling up with tomes purporting to tell us what it means to be a citizen of the Great White North. In an age of irony, this means appreciating the little, sometimes kitschy, things we have taken for granted. And who better to shed new light on the Reach for the Top game show, the Robertson screwdriver, and Toronto's domination of the country than that master of irony, Douglas Coupland?

The Vancouver novelist (Generation X, Hey Nostradamus!) and visual artist has curated a second immensely readable, highly entertaining, and even fun-for-the-whole-family follow-up to his first Souvenir of Canada. The mini-essays include Coupland's thoughts on the now sadly defunct Eaton's catalogue (all the models, he writes, look as though they have been "seemingly selected at random from the White Pages") as well as such uniquely Canadian identifiers as treeplanters, the Royal Bank's "scary bank calendar," treeplanters, and what he calls "Canada's one true national art form," indignant letters to the editor. Souvenir 2 also benefits from Coupland's unique visual perspective. The longest essay in the book illustrates numerous interior photos of a house he was commissioned to remodel to reflect Canadian identity.

But turns disturbing, enlightening, and humourous, Souvenir of Canada 2 accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do--it makes the reader look at "Canadianness" with new eyes--and with a bonus. Two essays, one on Terry Fox and another an anecdote drawn from Coupland's youth, add an emotional underpinning to the book that, as corny as it may sound, might actually cause the Canadian reader's breast to swell with pride. And that's no joke. --Shawn Conner

"In this quirky photoessay by a Vancouver artist getting in touch with his Canadian identity, Coupland examines new images of 'the sleepy little Dominion.'" (Art Book News Annual )

Douglas Coupland gets Canada, and he has set out to re-invent his country with his particular brand of insight, humour and visual acuity.

Heartfelt homage to Terry Fox. Nanaimo bars for the soul. Unforgettable railway images revealing the country's historic central nervous system. Startling photography from Chris Gergley, Ed Burtynsky, Geoffrey James, Roberta Bondar and many more. And a fetching double-headed Canada goose which will forever change the way you look at hunting decoys.

Souvenir of Canada created a sensation when it was published July 1st, 2001. A stubby dominated the country's best-seller lists for months, and made the front pages of every major Canadian newspaper.

Souvenir of Canada 2 picks up where its predecessor left off. As with the best jazz, the riffs are fresh, never quite predictable, and full of delicious rhythm and subtle humour. This book is packed full of powerfully resonant images, and unexpected juxtapositions that reveal a new Canada, one at home in a new century. No lighthouses, grain elevators or teepees here.

Only a country as experimental and unexpected as Canada could inspire a book as eclectic and wonderful as this one.

(20061201)

Douglas Coupland was born on a Canadian NATO base in Germany and raised in Vancouver, where he still resides. Among his best-selling novels are Generation X, Shampoo Planet, Polaroids from the Dead, Microserfs, Miss Wyoming, Hey Nostradamus! and Eleanor Rigby, altogether in print in some 40 countries. Coupland also exhibits his sculpture in galleries around the world, indulging in design experiments that include everything from launching collections of furniture to futurological consulting for Stephen Spielberg.