Late Nights on Air
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Accepting a position at a northern Canadian radio station in 1975, Dido Paris disarms a hard-bitten broadcaster with her beauty and vocal talents before controversy surrounding a proposed gas pipeline triggers call-in-listener debates on the air.
Perseus Publishing … More »
Accepting a position at a northern Canadian radio station in 1975, Dido Paris disarms a hard-bitten broadcaster with her beauty and vocal talents before controversy surrounding a proposed gas pipeline triggers call-in-listener debates on the air.
Perseus Publishing
Blackwell North Amer
It's 1975 when beautiful Dido Paris arrives at the radio station in Yellowknife, a frontier town in the Canadian north. She disarms hard-bitten broadcaster Harry Boyd and electrifies the station, setting in motion rivalries both professional and sexual.
As the drama at the station unfolds, a proposed gas pipeline threatens to rip open the land, and inspires many people to find their voices for the first time. This is the moment before television conquers the north's attention, when the fate of the Arctic hangs in the balance.
After the snow melts, members of the radio station take a long canoe trip into the Barrens, a mysterious landscape of lingering ice and infinite light that exposes them to all the dangers of the ever-changing air.
Spare, witty, and dynamically charged, this compelling tale embodies the power of a place and of the human voice to generate love and haunt the memory.
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Add a SummaryAgainst the backdrop of a judicial inquiry into a proposed construction of a gas pipeline across the Arctic that would threaten the northern environment and the native way of life, this novel follows an engaging assortment of characters working in the Yellowknife CBC radio station in the mid-1970s Canadian North. Inspired by a radio drama about adventurer John Hornby, who traveled extensively through the Northwest Territory before starving, Gwen Symon arrives as a dewy-eyed newcomer with dreams of working behind the scenes in radio. Mentored by the talented but hard-drinking station manager, Gwen ends up working the late shift on air. She gradually comes into her own, just as radio makes way for television and the station crew begins to disband. Before they do, Gwen and friends set out on a journey to retrace Hornby's route. Equal parts Northern Exposure and Lost in the Barrens, this novel, already the winner of Canada's prestigious Giller Prize, compellingly captures one of the many small moments in which the Canadian North began to lose its essence. A strong choice for all libraries.--Barbara Love, Kingston Frontenac P.L., Kingston, Ont. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals
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Add a CommentI read Canadian authors and really like her detailed and unusual characters in Canadian settings; also read " Alone in the Classroom".
Been up North? If not, this is a good book telling how it was with the original explorers(insights from their diaries), as well as, the cast of Harry, Gwen, and Dido - love triangle in the 70s but not what you think. All are outsiders that have come to get away from something, though searching for themselves in the harsh climate, but beautiful landscape can be deceiving. The major political/social problem is the building of a new pipeline in the North and the problems it will bring to the different communities that surround the area and lack of regard of the local people and their heritage. Certain parts are written beautifully, while other parts seems truncated. Interesting read.
Life of people working at a small radio station in Yellowknife NWT in 1975. Deals with the Pipe Line Inquiry. Various nuggets on life.
Interesting book
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. This isn't a genre I normally read. I found it a bit overly descriptive in parts but it intrigued me enough to keep reading. I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, however.
Unfortunately, this book is too long and the point of it remained elusive.
I read this some time ago, and as usual thought "that's it, no more prizewinning Canadian Lit!". Boring, slow, depressing, no plot {alright, I like murders and car chases and so on}. I rated 1.5 stars "not bad" because it was well-written, not badly written... just not good enough to make up for wasting my time with a story I couldn't care about and characters I don't like. Perhaps the CanLit critics just read bits of the book for prose quality and don't read start-to-finish for fun?
Giller Prize winner about love, transition, and – like all classic Canadian fiction – survival.
i enjoyed this book and it took me my surprise! i won't reveal why but i was totally shocked! it moved me, to say the least. Enjoyed the book.
It’s not my cup of tea, but if you like imagery, especially about the lonely, moody Canadian North, this might be a win for you.