> SHELF LIFE <
> What’s the best book you’ve read this year and why? I’m in the middle of Beethoven: Anguish and Triumph by Jan Swafford. Beethoven’s artistic philosophies changed the way music was created and performed, and he was a huge influence on the evolution and construction of the piano. He’s had this massive trickle-down effect on so many areas of musical life. Swafford’s book is an in-depth look at one of the most fascinating, complex and utterly human musical revolutionaries of the Western world. > What book can’t you wait to dive into and why? I can’t wait to dive into So You Want to Talk About
Race by Ijeoma Oluo. If you want to learn and listen, and be an effective ally, Oluo’s book is essential, if not compulsory, reading. > What’s your favourite book of all time? I adored The Catcher in the Rye as a kid; The Stone Angel captivated me as a teen; Not Wanted on the Voyage was the first book that made me cry; and after reading The Apprenticeship of
Duddy Kravitz, St. Urbain Street took on mythical proportions when I moved to Montreal. So I guess I don’t have an all-time fave but I do have favourites for all the times in my life.
What book completely changed
your perspective? When I saw that Shakespeare’s plays were on my high school reading list, I thought, “Boring!” How could I have known the profound humanity, comedy, tragedy, insight, poetry and genius that was waiting for me? The first play we read was Twelfth
Night, and I thought, “I got this guy all wrong. I love him!” Discovering Shakespeare was a formative moment t that taught me never to judge first.
> If you could have dinner with any y author living or dead, who would it
be? Margaret Atwood, Dorothy Parker, r, William Shakespeare. That would make e for a nice dinner for four, don’t you think? I’d be happy to hear what each of them thought about my homemade tabbouleh, among other things.
— Athena McKenzie