The Uncool

A few years ago, on my 37th birthday, while we were all still caught in the seemingly neverending cycle of the COVID pandemic, I sat down and watched Almost Famous for the first time in years. Just as it had the first time I saw it, it completely mesmerised me. I think it’s pretty much…

Fahrenheit 182

Following in the footsteps of band-mate Travis Barker’s 2014 book, Blink-182’s Mark Hoppus tells his life story in his new memoir, FAHRENHEIT 182. If anything, the story of Blink 182 has enough ups, downs, and drama to fill several books, but Mark managed to fit the story of the band into four hundred pages (or…

Home And Away

Having read dozens of hockey player memoirs, they are rarely something that I get overly excited about. While I find both coaches and those in management often tend to put out more engaging reads, it’s the players who have the harder time producing an entertaining story. I don’t know if you’ve ever watched an interview…

Walking Disaster

Sum 41 was just about everywhere during my final year of high school all the way back in 2002. The band’s appearance on the soundtracks for both the first Spider-Man film as well as the second American Pie movie coupled with the near constant airplay on MuchMusic made it damn near impossible to get away…

Number One Is Walking

Following his critically acclaimed memoir about his years as a comic, BORN STANDING UP, Steve Martin released a second memoir containing stories about his time in the movie business, NUMBER ONE IS WALKING. Rather than taking the same path as his first autobiography, Martin enlisted the help of cartoonist Harry Bliss to produce a sort…

Son of Elsewhere

As a child in the 90s, Elamin Abdelmahmoud emigrated along with his parents from Sudan to Canada. In SON OF ELSEWHERE, Elamin authors a series of essays in which he explores growing up in a new country, learning a new language and culture while also finding his own identity along the way. To be honest,…

All Roads Home

A seven time Stanley Cup champion with the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Colorado Avalanche, Trottier recounts his road from Saskatchewan farm boy to NHL All-Star in his memoir, ALL ROADS HOME. Trottier’s career ended just after I turned ten years old in 1994, so it’s safe to say I missed the bulk of…

Novelist As A Vocation

Novelist As A Vocation is a sort of mish-mash memoir/writing advice book in the vein of Stephen King’s On Writing, from author Hauki Murakami. Admittedly, I’ve only read one of Murakami’s novels, The Wind of Bird Chronicle, and I didn’t particularly enjoy it. However, when Penguin Random House offered me a copy for review, I…