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Diane Schoemperlen's acclaimed In the Language of Love
expanded our expectations of the contemporary novel, using everyday
words to deconstruct a young woman's life and loves. In her new short
story collection, Forms of Devotion, she again tests the bounds of her craft, creating an arresting and wonderfully readable work that is also a treat for the eye. Forms of Devotion
contains eleven stories, each one a brilliant interplay of words and
images. The illustrations, selected by Schoemperlen and depicting
almost every subject imaginable, are wood engravings and line drawings
from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In some
cases, she was inspired to write the story after studying the
illustrations; in other cases, she wrote the story first, then chose or
constructed the pictures to accompany it. The result is a playful,
sometimes surreal and often mysterious juxtaposition of a historical
fascination with anatomy and classical themes with the author's
contemporary exploration of everyday people, places and things. Each
story is a creative delight, perfectly formed and rich in mischievous
wit, irony and multi-layered meaning. The title story, “Forms of
Devotion,” is a wonderful literary cataloguing of the traits and
qualities of the faithful, those who “sail off to work, perfect
confident that they will indeed get there: on time, intact. It does not
occur to them that they could just as well be broadsided by a Coca-Cola
delivery truck running the red light at the corner of Johnson and
Main.” “Five Small Rooms” is an intriguing, spectral journey into the
narrator's imagination, with the reader left wondering, “Is it madness
or a murder mystery?” In “How Deep is the River,” the author offers an
innovative, completely compelling take on the ubiquitous high school
math problem that begins “Train A and Train B are traveling toward the
same bridge from opposite directions…” Quite different in form, yet alike in their ability to entertain and provoke, the stories in Forms of Devotion show once again that Diane Schoemperlen's voice is as intriguing, fresh and electric as ever.
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At a Loss for Words
She wasn’t looking for love. As a successful writer with an established career, a comfortable home and a supportive group of friends, her life was full. But then, 30 years after he broke her heart the first time, he walked into a book signing and back into her life. Spurred on by the idyll of...
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Red Plaid Shirt
Diane Schoemperlen has been described variously as “one of the most vibrant and original voices in our literature,” “incredibly intelligent and observant,” “funny,” and “creatively innovative.” She was the 1998 winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction for Forms of Devotion , her...
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At A Loss For Words
In a “he said, she said” story, the writer always gets the last word. She is a writer, established and successful, with a full life and supportive friends. Then he walks into a book signing and back into her life 30 years after he broke her heart. This time, things...
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