Review Wednesday – Breaking the Mold: Confessions of a Hippie ex-Pastor

Meet Charles McGarry, an ex-pastor with very interesting world views (hence the "ex"!),  In his short essay – a mere 50 pages or so – he shares with the reader everything he's come to discover is wrong about the Church (not to be confused with Faith!) and offers viable alternatives to make this world a better place.  The best part in all this is that The Confessions of a Hipie ex-Pastor is accessible to everyone, believer or not.

I have to say that when I saw the title of the book, I was a bit put off.  I am weary of non-fiction books where the name of God is constantly branshished as the solution to all of mankind's problems.  This book, however, was not one of them, and I am glad I didn't let the title deter me.  McGarry's thoughts are extremely well structured.  His references to pop culture (who would have thought God and the Matrix could coexist on the same page?) lighten a topic that could have been much more arid.   To boot, his personnal stories help the reader connect with his ideas, which are very progressive.

Speaking of those, what are the main ideas in this essay? McGarry addresses first and foremost the very delicate topic of the Church as a financial institution.  He explains how, in his opinion, this has put Faith on the back burner in favour of a business Church, catering less and less to the needs of those it was supposed to help in the first place.  Then, he addresses the close affiliation of Church and State, underlining the pernicious consequences this has brought about.  Faced with a growing obese American population (which he partially links to evangelical potlucks!), he believes it's aboud time for his fellow countrymen to wake up and take the green shift, not only in terms of nutrition and well-being, but also in terms of the environment as a whole.  He encourages the readers to take action to proctect the planet.  

Through all these topics, there's a constant theme: breaking the mold.  McGarry is clear on this topic; everyone is different and has different needs.  As human beings, we should be able to questions and analyze the dogmas passed down to us by Church, society and even our families, in order to be our true selves.  This way, we may achieve much more as individuals and thus contribute to society.

Lastly, I would like to add that McGarry's prose is a delight.  It is simple and straight to the point.  It doesn't hinder the reading, thus allowing the message to be conveyed with all its force.  This little book is a gem.  Take a moment and read it. 

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ATUA 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY WINNERS

Are you ready for the results of the giveaway?

And the winners are...

*drum roll*

a Rafflecopter giveaway

CONGRATULATIONS!

Teodora you win the red prize and RJ Blain you win the blue prize!

Please contact me by email before Friday November 15 to claim your prize and give me your shipping information.

Thanks to everyone who participated!

 

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Hipster Word of the Week – Witzelsucht

Have you brought your vade mecum with you today?  This week ATUA brings you another hipster health condition.  It's so obscure, you've probably never heard of it.

WITZELSUCHT

n. - emotional state characterized by futile attempts at humor.

I don't know what's Mandy's problem.  Her jokes are so inappropriate that you'd believe she suffers from  witselsucht!

Your turn! Leave your sentences in the comment section.

Source: Luciferous Logolepsy

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Review Wednesday – Auxiliary Skins

Auxiliary Skins, A Collection of Stories, is Canadian author Christine Miscione' first book.  However, her work has been publish in numerous literary magazines and her story "Skin, Just" – which happens to be the first story of this book –  has won the first place in the Vanderbilt/Exile Short Fiction competition in 2012.

Through her stories, Miscione explores the human body from every angle.  Proper and improper bodily functions are examined and exposed without discrimination for once every judgment and social consensus is removed, this machine is glorious in its perfectly rendered imperfection.   However, those auxiliary skins the author speaks of are not limited to the physical realm.  Rather, they tell of these imaginary walls we build around us and that provide us with auxiliary life support. Through the characters' very physical experiences of discomfort and pleasure, the reader catches a glimpse of what is hidden behind those walls which protect their true selves.  Despite their different settings, all the stories belong to this cohesive collection..

Speaking of this collection without mentioning author's amazing prose would be a crime.  Miscione has a wonderful way with words; her descriptions are so vivid that they sometimes nauseate the reader.  She has this uncanny power many great authors have to make you see exactly what she means, as if she's sharing images with the reader directly from her mind.  It's worth mentioning as well that her metaphors are dead on and that her alliterations make you want to read her work out loud.  Her scrumptious prose flirts with poetry which creates a haunting contrast with the often raw content of the stories.  Her tales stay with the reader long after they have turned the last page.

I truly enjoyed all the stories, however, I would have to say that my favourites were Skin, Just, Winter Immemorial, Herkimer and Lemon Tart.  I realize this makes for almost half the book, but it's very difficult to choose.  Do pick up a copy of Auxiliary Skins, I promise you will not be disappointed.

Want to know more about Christine Miscione?  Don't miss the interview next week!

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ATUA's 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY GIVEAWAY!

A Truth Universally Acknowledged is 1 year old!  Hooray! 

I would never been able to make it without you, my loyal readers.  And so, to show you how much I care, I am hosting a giveaway!

GIVEAWAY

Enter and you could win one of two prizes!  The Red Prize is Camilla Gibb's Sweetness in the Belly and a fancy pink notebook.  The Blue Prize is Veronica Roth's Divergent and a classy blue notebook.  Leave a comment to tell me which one you want and earn an extra entry!  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Will ship internationally.  Giveaway ends Tueday November 12th at 12 am.

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Hipster Word of the Week – Vade mecum

Is your inner hipster uxorious?  Well, it doesn't matter because this week we're teaching him an awesome word.  I think this one is my favourite so far.

VADE MECUM

n. - a favorite book carried everywhere

My vade mecum?  Oh it's Steve Job's biography, of course.

Your turn!  Leave your sentences in the comment section!

 Source: Luciferous Logolepsy

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Spooky readings at Drawn & Quarterly – Launching Not your ordinary wolf girl

Mile End's Drawn in Quarterly bookstore was all prepped for Halloween last Wednesday with an impressive roster of guests ready to make the crowd shiver and tremble.  Each scarier than the previous, they prepared the avid listener for the piece de resistance of the evening, Emily Pohl-Weary's new teen novel.

From left to rigth: Mike Spry, Marianne Ackerman, Adam Leith Gollner and Mary Soderstom

Mike Spry opened the event with a short story called Small Crosses. Although it was cleverly peppered with humor, it also had a darker, scarier side.  It told of life lost through normality.  It spoke of society's power to kill people's dreams and originality.  A beautiful story.  

Marianne Ackerman followed with the frightening story of a bad haircut.  The anecdote was told without any written support, another proof – as if we needed convincing! – of Ackerman's great storytelling abilities. For a change of pace, author Adam Leith Gollner read a condensed version of Hans Christian Anderson's Auntie Toothache.  According to Gollner, he chose to do so because he feels he's never written something scary.

The gathered crowd was lucky to get an avant-goût of Mary Soderstrom upcoming short story collection called Desire Lines.  She spun an eerie tale of God and the Devil that left the audience wanting more.  Patience, patience.  The book launch is on November 6th, at Drawn & Quarterly!

From left to right: Suzanne Sutherland and Emily Pohl-Weary

Susan Sutherland, with her first novel When we were good and Emily Pohl-Weary with he latest novel, Not your ordinary wolf girl, read from their books before taking part in a nice Q&A chat.  The content of the reading and the chat are condensed in what follows.

Suzanne Sutherland's monsters are not ghouls or vampire; from the outside, they look entirely normal.  Her monsters are high school girls.  In her novel, Sutherland addresses the question of teenage girls mistreating their peers, but especially themselves.  She speaks of this constant feeling of not being enough.  The author says that the first draft of the book was the result of a sudden idea.  Six weeks and a wrist brace later, the – terrible – first draft was born.  It took her about a year to edit it into something good.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, only Sutherland may say), that meant sacrificing a talking fifty dollar bill as main character.

Sutherland said that setting is very important in her novel.  Inspired by In the Skin of a Lion, which uses a bridge as a central element, she decided that she may well use a venue she used to call home as a focal point for her novel.  Music is also omnipresent in her novel.  She mentioned that band practice probably is what helped her survive  high school.  And thank God she did, for her lively presence on stage was much appreciated.

Emily Pohl-Weary finally got on stage, her soft-spokeness contrasting with Sutherland's vibrant energy.  As soon as she started reading, it didn't take long to realize that she is a master of her craft.  Her descriptions were rich, her prose mellifluous. It was easy to picture the whole scene in one's head. The author said that the idea for her wolf girl was born after reading a famous vampire series in which the protagonist was an empty vessel, a helpless girl with no strength (Guessed what series she meant?).She felt that teenage girls needed a strong model, a fierce and powerful monster girl.

When ask if being a teen is like being a monster, Pohl-Weary replied that the werewolf form was a metaphor, an outside manifestation of teen girls' pent up rage.  She continued by saying her favourite scenes to write included one where her protagonist wants to eat (literally) her boyfriend and one, which was unfortunately toned down, where she devoured her neighbor's chihuahua.  Many a listener would have liked to hear her read out that original scene.

Pohl-Weary confessed that the most difficult thing in writing for her is plotting.  She explained that she easily gets side-tracked with details and characters, which means that she constantly needs to outline over and over as her characters take her in different directions.  When asked what monster she would be herself, she laughed and said that she felt she had turned into a werewolf herself.  She joke that although she's not a dog person, the number of cheeseburger she had had in the previous week didn't lie.

The evening ended with casual talk between the guests and the crowd and, of course, many a book signed.  Many thanks to all the authors who contributed to this wonderful night of monsters.

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