| Selected
Media Mentions
Vancouver Sun -
NINJA LIT I When is a bag not a bag? When
it enables you to "Live the life you've always wanted to
live as a deadly, erudite assassin of the intellect." Now
that's a serious book bag. And where would one attain such a potent
weapon of erudition? At the Bookninja website, naturally. The
brainchild of Vancouver writer Peter Darbyshire and Ontario poet
George Murray, Bookninja has recently rated a mention by Newsday.
Check it out for reviews, news and discussion on all things literary
at bookninja.com
Newsday
(NYC) - Laurie Muchnick (Books editor,
regarding the genesis of her new column)
I've been inspired by the freedom and forthrightness
of many literary Weblogs. The proprietors of sites like Maud Newton
(maudnewton.com), Bookninja (bookninja.com) and The Elegant Variation
(marksarvas.blogs.com/elegvar) can talk about books they love,
books they hate, the latest scurrilous literary gossip - all the
things that readers talk about when they get together. I'm looking
forward to the conversation.
Denver
Post - Brief mention in company of other lit blogs
Globe
and Mail - Lynn Coady
A favourite website of mine, Bookninja,
promptly posted the link. Run by poet George Murray and novelist
Peter Darbyshire, Bookninja offers up a clearinghouse of lit-links,
often the kind of stories (massive advances to single-brain-celled
rock stars) that get many an author contemplating life in retail.
"I find these kinds of things endlessly fascinating,"
confesses Murray. "Particularly for the peek into the tortured
world of another." Whenever he feels things are at their
worst, Murray admits, "the pain of others works like a charm
or a tonic."
"Every writer thinks they're a fraud," adds Darbyshire.
"When writers see someone else having similar problems or
at least struggling with success, they are free to think, 'Ah,
it's not just me. It's the whole system, or our vapid culture,
or the corrupt business, or whatever.' "
Globe and Mail
- Jane Taber's Ottawa Notebook
(A callout file photo from the Duddy Kravitz movie has a caption
that makes mention of the Bookninja Political Picks - link unavailable)
Duddy Kravits for PM?
Literary website Bookninja is looking to lighten things up in
this election by plucking characters 'from the hallowed pages
fo Canadian literature' as their ideal party leaders. Modecai
Richler's Duddy Kravtiz (played by Richard Dreyfuss in the 1974
film) is their choice for Conservative leader. Margaret Atwood's
'Jimmy' from Oryx and Crake is their pick for the Liberals. And
the NDP would be led by the narrator from Stephen Leacock's Sunshine
Sketches of a Little Town. Make your choice at www.bookninja.com/essays/jun_2004/
election.htm.
Eye
Weekly - Editorial
Bookninja.com reports that the Writers'
Union of Canada's press release annoucing the winners of the 2004
Danuta Gleed Award was nearly identical to its press release announcing
the 2003 winners...
Selected Reader Blurbs
"Great site. The ninja nerds shall inherit
the earth." - Dennis Bock
"You guys are the
Daily Show of literary websites." - Dennis Lee
"Bookninja is smarter, funnier, and
more lasting than anything on the
internet has any right to be. I read it at least once a year."
- Michael Redhill |
