I’ve become something of a scholar of novels written by people who’ve spent time in the Arctic. Not recommending this one.
Arctic Smoke: A weird punk mystery of a book I barely scraped through
My Name is Masak, a childhood memoir by Alice French
This book is so spare, it’s nearly impossible to get through without wanting to read between the lines.
Booze and sex collide in this warm, gritty novel of AA in Yellowknife
Whoa! This book isn’t just about alcoholism: it’s about promiscuity, and the forces that drive it, and that’s something we just don’t talk about.
George Blondin’s quest to write the Dene universe
Even though I like talking to people, I never really learn anything until I read about it. If you’re anything like me and you live in the NWT, you need to know about George Blondin.
Dying for Gold — a brilliant chronicle of Yellowknife miners at war
Wowsa. This serious work of investigative non-fiction tracks the Giant Mine strike of 1992/93 in stupefying detail.
Tatsea, a novel, takes us deep into 18th century Tlicho life
A historical novel imagines two eighteenth century lovers forced into exile in and around present day Whati.
Trapping is my Life by John Tetso
Trapping was indeed the life for John Tetso, who writes vividly about his life on the land in this slim 1970 book. “The wind flowing on the face and the smell of campfire smoke are two temptations I can’t resist … and the good solid feeling that you are your own boss.”
Thrasher… Skid Row Eskimo: Tony Thrasher’s 1976 jailhouse memoir
I had no idea there were so many books written by Inuit. This one is a really good read.
A former CBC-er wrote a novel about a classical musician’s escape to Iqaluit
In Joe Fiorito’s 2002 novel, a concert pianist runs away from the Toronto cultural scene and into the arms of a not-even-thinly disguised Bryan Pearson.
Sanaaq, the first Inuit novel
I enjoyed Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk's sketches of life in Arctic Quebec in the years and months before the first white men come to stay for good. The book also confounded me a little. Is it comedy? Tragedy? I have no way of knowing.
Northreads 