Two outta five ain't bad
To paraphrase Meat Loaf, two out of five ain’t bad. Coach House Books is delighted to report two of its recent titles, The City Man by Howard Akler and uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto, edited by Alana Wilcox and Jason McBride, have been shortlisted for the 2006 Toronto Book Awards. The other shortlisted books are What We All Long For, by Dionne Brand; Raymond and Hannah, by Stephen Marche; and When She Was Queen, by M.G. Vassanji.
“The five finalists were selected from over 75 entries that ranged across a variety of genres and styles, from the factual to the fictional and everything in between. We were delighted to receive so many excellent submissions, and congratulate all the authors and publishers who brought Toronto to life in their books,” said the judges.
The five Toronto Book Award nominees were selected from over 75 entries that ranged across a variety of genres and styles. The Toronto Book Awards honour authors of books of literary merit that are evocative of Toronto. The award offers $15,000 in prize money.
The winner will be announced at a reception on September 6 and the finalists will read from their nominated books in the City of Toronto tent at the Word On The Street book and magazine fair on September 24.
About The City Man:
It’s 1934, and Toronto is stalled in the Great Depresssion. Pickpocket Mona Kantor is scraping by on small change, while Eli Morenz, city reporter for the Daily Star, struggles to wring news stories out of the subdued metroplois. When a chance photo drives Eli into the Jewish underworld Mona inhabits, he finds he’s stumbled onto the story of his life. Toronto author Howard Akler tells a darkly funny romance about a perilous lust, a desperate time and the fine art of the grift.
'The City Man is a fast and iridescent look at the world of big-city pickpockets circa 1934 … Akler delivers the goods with originality and flare, with language as gorgeous as a Jean Harlow pin-up and dialogue sharper than a burst from a Thompson submachine gun.' – The Globe and Mail
About uTOpia: Towards a New Toronto:
Thirty-four Torontonians tackle the question: How would you improve Toronto? Writers laud, lambast and lead the charge for change in Canada’s biggest metropolis. They talk about streetlights and streetcars, about strip malls, about scenesters and sidewalks. They profile exemplary citizens, they collect ttc transfers, they explore the architecture of our buildings and our imaginations. They look ahead, with playfulness and pragmatism, to Toronto the Could.
Contributors include Erik Rutherford, Edward Keenan, Shawn Micallef, Nicole Cohen, Derek Murr, Mark Kingwell, Lorraine Johnson, Howard Akler, Dylan Reid, Stéphanie Verge, Philip Evans, Jacob Allerdice, Sheila Heti, Sally McKay, Misha Glouberman, John Lorinc, Ninjalicious, James Bow, Heather McLean, Darren O’Donnell, Conan Tobias, Dale Duncan, Deborah Cowen, Ute Lehrer, Andrea Winkler, Chris Hardwicke, Luis Jacob, Bert Archer, Jonny Dovercourt, Barbara Rahder, Patricia Wood, Dave Meslin, Adam Vaughan, Mark Fram, and Deanne Taylor.
