Vancouver Special [Paperback]

 

 

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If Douglas Coupland's City of Glass makes Vancouver look bright, colourful, and toylike, reminiscent of the Pop Art that Coupland says inspired him, then Charles Demers' Vancouver Special does the opposite. As carefully designed in black and white as Coupland's book is in colour, Vancouver Special, with its stark typography, and Emmanuel Buenviaje's striking photographs, portrays the city as somewhat dark, grubby, and foreboding -- at points, almost hellish. Instead of Pop Art, something of a Punk Rock ethos pervades this Vancouver primer.

That two seemingly contradictory visions of the same city can be equally valid probably says something about the slippery essence of Vancouver -- a place that Demers speculates might be "the least Canadian of the country's cities." Or it could just mark the difference between the admittedly idiosyncratic viewpoints of both authors. Coupland grew up and continues to live in West Vancouver, the affluent suburb with its expansive vistas to the northwest of Vancouver, overlooking the city. Demers began life in the ground-floor rental suite of a Vancouver Special (a utilitarian, stucco-clad, and some would say hideous form of residential architecture unique to Vancouver) located in working-class East Vancouver. The bird's-eye view versus looking up from under.

The character, mood, and essence of Vancouver are what Demers goes after in a substantial introduction, conclusion, and twenty-nine short essays grouped in three categories: Neighbourhoods, People, and Culture. But he approaches these elusive qualities from a solid foundation built with plenty of unvarnished local detail, civic history, personal reminiscence, experience as a working comedian and political activist, and wide-ranging research and reading about Vancouver (end notes, an index, and suggested further reading accompany the text). He covers some of the same ground as Coupland -- pot, real estate, nature, food, the local film industry, Chinatown, the Downtown Eastside -- but to a greater depth, and with more meaty analysis.

Demers also pokes into some interesting corners that would undoubtedly escape the attention of the civic shills who incessantly tout Vancouver as "world class." A few hours spent drinking Crown Royal with one of two rival barbers in Little India. A volunteer job touring a founding member of the Black Panthers, and a group of rap artists, around Vancouver, which leads to a more general consideration of Vancouver's often overlooked black history. The incongruity of "two frat-house date-rapist types" debriefing after a night at a strip bar, encountered in the washroom of the Naam, Vancouver's iconic hippy-vegetarian destination. The experience, bordering on excruciating, of riding one of the city's electric trolley buses as it crawls up a very long hill. The pathological nature of the relationship between Vancouverites and their bipolar NHL hockey team, the Canucks. Demers isn't particularly interested in picture-postcard Vancouver, but rather in getting into the city's guts, which is where the majority of the inhabitants spend the majority of their time.

The concluding essay, "Vanarchism," is perhaps the strongest, tracing Vancouver's long line of activists and civil dissidents from early twentieth-century Wobblies to D.O.A.'s Joey Shithead, anti-APEC protester Jaggi Singh, and the coalition of poverty and First Nations activists threatening to derail the 2010 Winter Olympics. The essay suggests several reasons why Vancouver continues to be "the First City of Canadian Anarchism," and the eclectic nature of the book as a whole illustrates how this anarchistic vibration may have given rise to a place where unconventionality is ironically the norm. Like the Chinook jargon spoken in the city during its early years, Vancouver has always been something of a crazy jumble, and continues to be, and may become more so as the city's demographics continue to shift in the twenty-first century. Vancouver Special suggests the jumble, rather than any homogeneity of vision, is what makes the place interesting. Rather than a single essence, Vancouver, paradoxically, may have multiple essences.

Unlike, Douglas Coupland's City of Glass--which was more of an instruction manual to the inside jokes that populate our city--or Vancouver Matters--the city seen through urban planning and architectural choices--Demers has written a mesh of personal and cultural history that aims to dig a bit deeper. Where Coupland was all wit and gloss, Demers isn't afraid to expose the grit and grime of the city he so obviously loves, pointing out the glaring hypocrisies, inequalities, and insecurities. However, his love for Vancouver is there, sometimes shrouded in a haze of cynicism and nostalgia, but always lurking as the motive.

The book is divided into three parts--neighbourhoods, people, and culture--and contains such chapter headings as Pot, Vanarchism, and Rich People. There is no doubt that this is a wide, if personally biased, expose of the city, but Demers never pretends that Vancouver Special is anything but his own views on the city set through the filter of his upbringing and family history. The book is peppered with memoir that Demers intercuts well with straight history and cultural tidbits, throwing in the odd stand-up joke here and there that mostly are funny.

Demers is a comedian though, and it shows in how he manipulates the stereotypes of neighbourhoods and people so effectively in each essay. This will annoy some readers, delight others, or perform some mixture of the two, as it did with me. Thankfully Demers doesn't rely wholly on the stereotypes we are all too familiar with (small-dog-toting Yaletown-yuppie; Lu Lu Lemon-wearing-Kitsilano-yoga-fiends; etc...), but instead doles out the sharp societal observations that good comedians do so well, keeping his writing witty, conversational, and ultimately fun to read.

The choice to include quotes from other Vancouver stand-up comedians throughout the book was an excellent decision, but one that I wish was taken advantage of more. After reading the first selection, I immediately flipped through the rest of the book to find the other comedians quotes, printed in bold. Comedians know the city well, and are deft at exposing the things we rarely enjoy talking about in a way that makes us laugh at ourselves.

At turns hilarious, informative, frustrating, and sentimental, Demers' book is one that mirrors the mentality of the city itself. It's not surprising that Arsenal Pulp Press, known for their outside-the-mainstream publications, have chosen to publish this book. It's a necessary contribution to the dialogue of the city, one that should be read by residents and tourists alike as an alternative to the ra-ra cheers of other books about the city.

Vancouver Special tells an authentic story of Vancouver, warts and all. The story starts with it's cover and layout. The book itself is austere and colorless, filled with stark, black and while photographs. It is reflective of a particular image of Vancouver'the overcast drizzle that is all too familiar to residents.

The title refers to the much maligned houses production houses that were built in droves between the late sixties and early eighties. Their homely, boxy shape has been the butt of many jokes. Despite the these jabs, Vancouver Specials have become a nostalgic favorite of many Vancouverites. They may be homely and have many shortcomings, but they are authentic and they are 'ours'. As such, it is a perfect title for a book that highlights the cities many shortcomings, but still manages to conveys that authors earnest love of the city.

Demers' takes readers on a tour of the city. But instead of providing short vignettes, it provides longer essays. After an introduction sets that stage, Demers takes readers through several Vancouver's neighbourhoods in the first section The second section looks at the various cultures and races of people that live here. The third section is where it get most interesting. Here Demers takes an in-depth look at various aspects of culture that define the city, from pot to peace

Vancouver Special is also filled with great photography: haunting black and white shots of everyday life in the city. These picture reinforce the authentic feel of the book.

if the book has a flaw, it is Demers' unflinching leftist take on the challenges Vancouver faces. This could alienate some readers.

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