When W.O. Mitchell died in 1998 he was described as “Canada's best-loved writer.” Every commentator agreed that his best – and his best-loved – book was Who Has Seen the Wind. Since it was first published in 1947, this book has sold almost a million copies in Canada.
As we enter the world of four-year-old Brian O’Connal, his father the druggist, his Uncle Sean, his mother, and his formidable Scotch grandmother (“she belshes…a lot”), it soon becomes clear that this is no ordinary book. As we watch Brian grow up, the prairie and its surprising inhabitants like the Ben and Saint Sammy – and the rich variety of small-town characters – become unforgettable. This book will be a delightful surprise for all those who are aware of it, but have never quite got around to reading it, till now.
W.O. Mitchell's The Kite, a beautiful story of intergenerational friendship and self-discovery, comes to life in this new, abridged audio edition read by the author in his own voice.
The Kite follows veteran reporter David Lang as he reluctantly arrives on assignment to the small prairie town of Shelby, Alberta, to write a piece on the 111st birthday of Daddy Sherry, the town's oldest resident. Uptight, jaded and eager to return to Toronto, David plans to file a simple story and leave Shelby as quickly as possible - but Daddy Sherry has other ideas. David's plans are thwarted when the curmudgeonly, elusive Daddy Sherry sends him on a wild goose chase that leads David to an entirely different story than he first expected - as well as his own journey to happiness and self-acceptance.
W.O. Mitchell's acclaimed novel is a funny, poignant look at leaving the past behind and embracing our future, no matter how old we are.
If you ever saw one of W.O. Mitchell's public readings you will know why they were described as unforgettable. Unruly white hair flying, fist raised, voice husky or thundering, eyes wide in innocent astonishment at a double entendre raising a laugh, W.O. Mitchell did not give readings from his work; he performed them. In contrast to the lonely life of the writer, he loved 'the immediate thrust of a live audience as it responds to story magic,' and the audiences loved him, laughing until they were sore.
This wonderful selection of 31 pieces shows his writing at its best, while the in-performance photographs catch some of the charm of the man whose own character was perhaps his finest creation.
Some pieces come from his novels, such as Who Has Seen the Wind and The Vanishing Point. We also hear the distinctive voices of both Jake and the Kid. 'Melvin Arbuckle's First Course in Shock Therapy' is here, as are 'The Day I Sold Lingerie in a Prairie Whore House' and the sad tale of 'Santa Comes to Shelby.' Old favourites are mixed with many new pieces, some never before published in book form, such as 'Stopping Smoking' and 'The Day I Caught Syphilis' (at the age of twelve). There are also serious pieces on censorship, and, finally, his inspiring 1996 speech in Winnipeg to the Writers' Union of Canada that moved his audience to tears. This book is a worthy tribute to a wonderful man.
When How I Spent My Summer Holidays was first published in 1981 a Western reviewer wrote: "If Who Has Seen the Wind told the story of a young boy's coming to terms with death, How I Spent My Summer Holidays tells of a young man's attempt to come to terms with his own sexuality and that of the world around him."
The twelve-year-old young man is Hugh, and in small-town Saskatchewan it is the hot summer of 1924. When Hugh and his friends dig a secret cave out on the Prairie, they soon find it occupied by an escaped patient from the mental hospital. Defying the adult world, the boys become involved with a former war hero and current rum-runner, King Motherwell, in sheltering and feeding the runaway. When passions aroused by sex explode into murder, Hugh leaves his boyhood behind him for ever.
