Books
by Michael Kluckner
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"In any case, rather like priests who have forgotten the meaning of the prayers they chant, we shall go on for quite a long time talking of books and writing books, pretending all the while not to notice that the church is empty and the parishioners have gone elsewhere to attend other gods, perhaps in silence or with new words." --Gore Vidal, "French Letters," in Matters of Fact and Fiction (Random House, 1977). |
| VANCOUVER
REMEMBERED Whitecap Books, 2006 ISBN 1-55285-811-1 ISBN 9778-1-55285-811-1 $49.95 Canadian Hardcover A farewell, of sorts, to Vancouver -- a summing up of more than 20 years of writing and painting, focusing on the city in the years between the Second World War and Expo 86 when I was growing up. It spent a month on the BC bestseller list during the 2006 Christmas season. Winner of the Vancouver Book Prize Finalist: BC Booksellers Association Award ("the Duthie Prize"), 2007 In print and available through regular and on-line bookstores. "...a gentle masterpiece which reveals layers of changing colour and light on Vancouver’s evolving neighbourhoods using the author’s own precise research and beautifully illustrated watercolours." -- jury, Vancouver Book Prize "Kluckner ... has a feel for the city that I, even 30 years after I began to write about its past, can't begin to approach." -- Chuck Davis, Vancouver Sun, November 25, 2006 Correspondence about Vancouver topics Mac Parry says .... Review/interview from The Tyee by Charles Campbell |
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"The Best of 2005" Rebecca Wigod, Vancouver Sun, Dec. 24, 2005 |
VANISHING BRITISH COLUMBIA UBC Press/University of Washington Press, 2005 Hardcover with dust jacket: $49.95 Canadian Hundreds of watercolours, old photographs and postcards, floorplans and other illustrations in a 224-page, 8 1/2 x 11 inch full-colour book. Hard cover with dustjacket. 1st printing: 2005; 2nd
printing: 2005 In print and available through regular and on-line bookstores. A finalist (alas, not the winner) for the Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize. Also a finalist for the George Ryga Prize. Read the Vancouver
Sun interview and review |
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VANCOUVER WALKS Co-authored with John Atkin Steller Press, 2003, second edition 2005 $16.95 Canadian 28 historic walks ranging from a few blocks to a few kilometres: the book is divided into sections of Downtown, Streetcar Suburbs, Along the Interurban, and North Shore, reflecting the city's historic development along public transit routes. |
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WISE ACRES Raincoast Books, 2000. 6" x 9", 240 pages ISBN 1-55192-304-1 $19.95 Canadian; $15.95 US " . . . Hilarious . . . charming without being corny, thoroughly witty and, at times, a little grim." (Brenda Anderson, Langley Times) "'Farm Noir' might just well be a new phrase, thanks to Kluckner's hobby farm chronicles that combine his straightforward humour with observations and notes on the breeding, birthing and killing of his barnyard buddies . . . . I'd call it Harrowsmith with a grin." (Cherie Thiessen, Monday Magazine. This complete review is on-line at Linear Reflections.) "Wit and humour steel this family's courage to take on the land and the rigours of the hobby farm. If the definition of humour is tragedy plus time, then Mr. Kluckner must have waited some time before writing this little gem. A great read especially for those about to embark on a major project." (Rob Kennedy, Cottage magazine) " . . . simple, real, to the point and genuine. A person completes this book with a feeling similar to that felt after a good, light meal with a glass of wine; satisfied, but not bloated; relaxed, but far from inebriated." (Literary Review of Canada, April 2001) Out of print, although there may still be copies in some bookstores; available through www.abebooks.com. |
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Canada A Journey of Discovery Raincoast Books, 1998, 192 pages, 10" x 13" ISBN 1-55192-204-5 (clothbound), watercolour sketches and text. Designed by Hermani-Sorrentino Design. Out-of-print! Look through specialty book sites such as abebooks. "An enjoyable, evocative trip through the swamplands of national memory." - Robert Fulford, from his Foreword. " . . . an informed and amusing ramble illustrated with sometimes almost abstract watercolours of what surrounds him, from Cape Breton to Ucluelet. . . . We think of watercolours as prettified, but they aren't really. They show more than a snapshot would. Kluckner's paintings are revealing of the small moments of Canadian life. His prose, on the other hand, builds up to a great hymn of pride in this country. It's a convincing narrative. This may be the best book of Canada this year." - Heather Mallick, Toronto Sun.
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The Pullet Surprise: A Year on an Urban Farm Raincoast Books, 1997, 132 pages, 6 1/2" x 10 1/2", text and watercolours ISBN 1-55192-109-X (cloth) Winner of Alcuin Prize for Canadian book design, 1998. Designed by Dean Allen. Out of print, although there may still be copies in some bookstores; available through www.abebooks.com. "What distinguishes this book is its playfulness. It reads like something from an old Harrowsmith magazine - informed, colourful, whimsical and wise." - Globe & Mail. "I consider this slim volume must reading for every person who lives on a farm, who has ever lived on a farm, who wants to live on a farm or has any connection in any way with agriculture." - Verna Thompson, Western Producer.
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Michael Kluckner's Vancouver Raincoast, Books, 1996, 128 pages, 9" x 12", watercolours and text ISBN 1-55192-044-1 (cloth) Winner of an Alcuin Prize for book design, 1997.
Available only from Petley-Jones Gallery. Please contact them for price and shipping details. "His art is so close to the spirit of Vancouver that you almost expect his winter skies to burst into rain before you can turn the page." - John Lekich, Georgia Straight. |
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British Columbia in Watercolour 1993, 96 pages, 10" x 10", watercolours and text ISBN 0-9697372-0-3 (paperback) Personal paintings of favorite Vancouver places, as well as from travels through British Columbia. Out-of-print! Look through specialty book sites such as abebooks. |
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Heritage Walks Around Vancouver 1992, 248 pages, 5 1/2" x 8 1/2", text and b/w photographs ISBN 1-55110-036-3 Co-authored by John Atkin. Out-of-print! Look through specialty book sites such as abebooks. |
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Paving Paradise: Is British Columbia Losing Its Heritage? 1991, 224 pages, 6 1/2" x 9 1/2", text and b/w photographs ISBN 1-895099-90-0 $15 US; $15 Canadian including shipping Winner of the Hallmark Society (Victoria) Award of Merit, 1992. A critique, to put it mildly, of recent development trends and attitudes. Out of print, although there may still be copies in some bookstores; available through www.abebooks.com. |
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Vanishing Vancouver 1990 (2 printings), 208 pages, 10" x 13", text, watercolours, colour and b/w photographs, maps ISBN 1-895099-24-2
Winner of the Duthie Prize, 1991, and the City of Vancouver Book Prize, 1991. Out of print. Look through specialty book sites such as abebooks for pre-owned copies. |
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Toronto The Way It Was 1988 (2 printings), 320 pages, 12" x 10", text, watercolours, colour and b/w photographs, maps. Foreword by Jan Morris. ISBN 0-921396-02-3 Short-listed for Toronto Book Prize, 1989 Out-of-print! Look through specialty book sites such as abebooks. |
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Victoria The Way It Was 1986, 160 pages, 12" x 10", text, watercolours, colour and b/w photographs, maps. ISBN 0-920620-48-5 Out-of-print! Look through specialty book sites such as abebooks. |
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Vancouver The Way It Was 1984, 240 pages, 12" x 10", text, watercolours, colour and b/w photographs, maps. Reprinted 1985 (twice), 1986 (different dust jacket). Softcover edition 1988 (with this cover). "Tenth Anniversary edition" (this cover and new preface) 1993. ISBN 0-920620-56-6 Out-of-print! Look through specialty book sites such as abebooks. |