Fiction

• Short Fiction

• Short Fiction

• Short Fiction

• Awards and Honours:

  Winner, Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction

• Short Fiction

• Book Club Questions:
  1. Is the title, "I Still Don't Even Know You" appropriate to this collection. If so, why?
  2. The mother's fear in "The Good Little Girl" is that her daughter, Missy, will turn out to be just like her. Do you think Missy will be like her mother? If so, what does she do to show that this will happen? And is this, after all, a bad thing?
  3. In "Dogs" the main character is a writer. She mentions that if she could just name the dog in the story she is writing then everything that is going on around her, and everything in her story, will turn out all right. However, the woman herself is never named in the main story. Neither is her husband. Is this important to the story? If so, why?
  4. In "The Cat" Nigel meets a young girl in the hospital emergency room. What do you think has happened to her? Why is it significant that Nigel meets her?
  5. The story, "Making Spirits Bright" has a very unusual structure. Can you discuss the structure and explain why it is unusual?
  6. "Henderson Has Scored for Canada" is based on the 1972 hockey games between Canada and Russia. How do the games mirror what is happening in Maggie's home life? Is Maggie's misinterpretation of what is happening around her believable?
  7. In "Drowning" Laura and Doug come to a stand still. What do you think would happen if the story continued on?
  8. What is Julie trying to tell Steve in the story, "Convenience"? Does he understand what she is saying to him?
  9. In "Every Summer, in Every Watery Town all over the World, There is at Least One Drowning," Marianne tries to keep her two worlds separate. What happens when the two worlds collide and why is this appropriate for the story? Is the ending depressing or do you, as reader, actually feel relief?
  10. In "Be Kind to Your Children" the little kids on the beach see the patients as "a bunch of lousy angels." What does this signify to the reader? What does it signify to Meg? Does it change Meg's opinion of her work and life?
  11. Is there any discernible reason for the ordering of the stories in this collection? Are there linked themes? If so, what are they?
  12. What is your favourite story and why?
  13. What is your least favourite story and why?
  14. Even though the characters all feel that they don't really know each other -- no matter how hard they try -- do you feel this is true of them? In real life does anyone ever really know anyone else?

• Book Club Questions:
  1. Forgiveness is a hard thing to come by in the novel. Are there actions which are unforgiveable in the book? Which characters deserve the forgiveness they seek?
  2. Throughout the book, someone is either abandoning the wedding or in the process of crashing it. Discuss this see-saw effect and the importance of Gabriel being its fulcrum, ie: steadfast and loyal to the wedding.
  3. Truth and lies prevail. While Autumn blurts the truth at inopportune times, she also cannot escape the little white lie ie: lying about Alec's words on the dock. Is there merit in the little white lie? Or is truth the key to setting these characters free?
  4. “Regret makes life sad.” Mom says in her simple way. How does regret colour Joyce’s life? The other characters’?
  5. Winnipeg and Hematite are juxtaposed and contrasted throughout the novel in a variety of ways. Ie: Autumn sees her arrival in Winnipeg as a springboard to launch her courage to have and keep Sara. On the flip side, back in Hematite, she realizes she has never seen her boss, Dr. Jewel, in natural outdoor light while working in Winnipeg. How do these opposite pulls affect Autumn? What does it say about her character when she embraces the big city? When she returns home?
  6. The title, Autumn, One Spring, sets a tone of seasonal opposites. This theme is common in literature, with spring representing rebirth and fall being the season of decay. How large a role doe season and weather play in the book?
  7. The story is set the same week as the Chernobyl disaster. How do the events in Hematite connect to Chernobyl?
  8. The rugged Canadian Shield plays a part in the book. How do the iconic symbols ie: voyageur, canoe, moose etc. affect the tone of the story?
  9. “I could hug a stranger more readily.” Autumn says when she is reunited with her father. How much does Autumn’s relationship with her father influence her actions in the rest of her life?
  10. It has been stated that comedies end with a wedding and tragedies with a death. Considering the book ends with a wedding, are there aspects that can be considered tragic, nonetheless?
  11. Though Alec and Gabriel are considered best friends throughout the book, the reader rarely encounters them together. Does this strengthen or lessen their relationship in the reader's mind?
  12. Autumn’s moral dilemma regarding Sara and her father is brought to the forefront near the end of the novel. Is Autumn justified in her actions? Project and predict the outcome for Sara as an adult.
  13. Gabriel’s spewing of Batman quotes laced with Shakespeare is an oddity. Is he less the romantic hero or more appealing as a result?
  14. Autumn’s habit of self-editing prevails right to the final line of the novel. Discuss this tendency with respect to her character and as a technical aspect in the structure of the story.
  15. Gabriel’s creed, “Accept convention in literature; avoid it in life.” Does he adhere to his own creed? How do other characters measure up? Does the novel itself adhere?
  16. Explosions occur everywhere within the confines of the text: From the coyote on the tv show Sara watches, to the blasting at the iron mine, to the tragic Chernobyl accident. Discuss this usage.
  17. Wedding day fantasies; wedding day horror stories. Everyone has one or the other or both. The book works hard at dispelling the fantasy. In the end, how will Christine and Alec look back on their day?
  18. The narrative is written in first person. There are frequent situations in which Autumn discovers the other characters collectively knowing things she doesn’t. The reader is only privy to this information as Autumn discerns it. How might the book differ if written with a third person narrative? ie: if the reader knew Christine’s thoughts, Gabriel’s, Joyce’s? Sara’s?
  19. After Sara’s seizure, Autumn says, “…I know that my capacity to love Sara is limitless; the accompanying pain is inescapable. The terrain of motherhood is as rugged as the bush surrounding Hematite.” Discuss with respect to the treatment of motherhood in other Canadian and international books. Ie: Unless, A Good House, The Stone Angel, White Oleander, Angela’s Ashes.

• Book Club Questions:
  1. Leishman was called “the gentleman bandit” but was he really? He also easily could be called a socio-path with an eye to the main chance. Which seems more accurate?
  2. When he’s in prison Leishman speculates that he is not X or Y (good or bad) but X, Y, A, B, and C also. In short, that “character” is plastic, that people are rather like chameleons, changing and shifting about depending on circumstances. How accurate is this view of character?
  3. The novel switches between journalistic style reportage on events and first-person stream-of-consciousness thoughts of the main character. Does this counterpoint technique work? Is one preferable to the other
  4. The prose sections are broken up by shots of newspaper clippings from the time. Do they add anything?
  5. The Globe and Mail reviewer called Ken Leishman “Canada’s Rock-Star Criminal.” What did he mean? Do you agree?
  6. One reader commented that Ken Leishman’s story is “the Mythic story of this place”? What did he mean? Is that a fair assessment?
  What do you think about Leishman’s fellow escapees? Is there company of benefit or a hindrance to Ken? Would he have gotten further, or even away without them?
  7. What do you think about Elva? She’s never given a voice in the novel, but is a significant figure for Ken. Is she an inspiration for his escapades?
  8. Leishman claims to be a family man. What do you think? Are his actions selfless or selfish? Do you think he would have tried such an elaborate heist if he didn’t have a family to try to “provide” for?
  9. What do you think about the dream sequences that Leishman has in jail? What do they say about him?
  10. Consulting the chronology, Ken Leishman was quite the career criminal: several robberies and even 2 jail breaks. All things considered he seems to have gotten off pretty easy. How do you think he would fare in the present criminal system?
  11. If you were part of Leishman’s crew, what would you have done with 12 gold bars?
  12. Bandit is akin to some of the great heist movies in cinema such as Oceans Franchise, The Bank Job, The Italian Job, The Score, among countless others. How do Danny Ocean and Ken Leishman compare as masterminds? What about Ken and some other caper “heros”?
  13. If you were a casting a Hollywood version of Bandit: A Portrait of Ken Leishman who would you cast as Ken Leishman? What about the others? The Grenkow Brothers and John Berry? Harry Backlin?