A note to US-based customers: All Lit Up is pausing print orders to the USA until further notice. Read more
All Books
All Books in this Collection
Showing 4577–4592 of 9248 results
-
Modern Canadian Plays, (Volume 1, 5th Edition)
$49.95This fifth edition of the classic Modern Canadian Plays sets out an even broader range of plays than previous editions. The plays in the first volume date from 1967 to 1991, and outline an indigenous Canadian drama emerging from its colonial roots to celebrate a rising nationalism. But more to the point, the plays in this edition carry with them a distinct flavour of adventurousness in a juxtaposition that is strikingly, even wildly, various—plays that can only be said to cohere around the difficulty of amorphous notions such as social justice, cultural belonging and the existence of a collective past. Modern Canadian Plays continues to stand as the standard anthology for Canadian drama—for good reason.
The plays in Volume One include:
The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, George Ryga (1967)
Les Belles Soeurs, Michel Tremblay (1968)
Leaving Home, David French (1972)
Sticks and Stones (The Donnellys, Part One), James Reaney (1973)
Zastrozzi, George F. Walker (1977)
Billy Bishop Goes to War, John Gray with Eric Peterson (1978)
Balconville, David Fennario (1979)
Blood Relations, Sharon Pollock (1980)
Drag Queens on Trial, Sky Gilbert (1985)
Bordertown Café, Kelly Rebar (1987)
Toronto, Mississippi, Joan MacLeod (1987)
Goodnight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet), Ann-Marie MacDonald (1988)
Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing, Tomson Highway (1989)
Lion in the Streets, Judith Thompson (1990)
Life Without Instruction, Sally Clark (1991) -
Modern Canadian Plays, (Volume 2, 5th Edition)
$49.95Modern Canadian Plays is the core text for university-level Canadian drama courses around the world. Now in its fifth edition, with the previous edition published in 2002, the two-volume Modern Canadian Plays drama series anthologizes major Canadian plays written and performed since 1967. The second volume presents a range of exciting Canadian plays from the late 1980s through the first decade of the twenty-first century. These plays respond directly or indirectly to the events of our time; work effectively on the stage, on the page, and in the classroom; and are contextualized with accompanying history, biography, and criticism.
Polygraph (1988) by Robert Lepage and Marie Brassard
7 Stories (1989) by Morris Panych
Never Swim Alone (1991) by Daniel MacIvor
The Glace Bay Miners’ Museum (1995) by Wendy Lill
Counter Offence (1996) by Rahul Varma
Problem Child (1997) by George F. Walker
Harlem Duet (1997) by Djanet Sears
Street of Blood (1998) by Ronnie Burkett
The Shape of a Girl (2001) by Joan MacLeod
Tempting Providence (2002) by Robert Chafe
Scorched (2003) by Wajdi Mouawad
The Adventures of Ali & Ali and the aXes of Evil (2005) by Marcus Youssef, Guillermo Verdecchia, and Camyar Chai
Age of Arousal (2007) by Linda Griffiths
BIOBOXES: Artifacting Human Experience (2007) by Theatre Replacement
The Edward Curtis Project: A Modern Picture Story (2010) by Marie Clements
Kim’s Convenience (2011) by Ins Choi -
Modern Canadian Plays: (Volume 1, 4th Edition)
$39.95“I don’t see how a play can be Canadian. I don’t think there are any plays that you could call strictly Canadian … What does that phrase mean?”
Now, thirty-three years after Canadian directors spoke their minds, or rather shrugged their shoulders at the seeming hopelessness of de-colonizing Canadian theatre, this fourth edition of the “classic” Modern Canadian Plays sets out for us an even broader range of plays than previous editions, outlining a Canadian drama-scene that is far from colonial, inert, middle-class, or middle-aged. spanning the years from 1967 to 1997, this anthology will likely continue to be the standard anthology for Canadian drama—and not without good reason.
Edited by Jerry Wasserman—professor at the University of British Columbia, theatre critic for CBC, and one of Vancouver’s most recurring (and memorable) faces on television— Volume I still contains plays such as George Ryga’s seminal and highly political The Ecstasy of Rita Joe (first performed in 1967, it was described as a “cicatrice” of Canadian society that “showed the bleeding flesh beneath”), as well as Michel Tremblay’s Les Belles-Soeurs (one of the most critically acclaimed plays in Canada, translated from the original, controversial, joual). But more to the point, this edition of Volume I carries with it an even more distinct flavour of adventurousness in its juxtaposition of plays that are strikingly, even wildly, various—plays that can only be said to cohere around the difficulty of amorphous notions such as social justice, cultural belonging, and the existence of a collective past.
The plays in this fourth edition of Modern Canadian Plays: Volume I date from 1967 to 1986:
The Ecstasy of Rita Joe by George Ryga
Fortune and Men’s Eyes by John Herbert
Les Belles-Soeurs by Michel Tremblay
Leaving Home by David French
1837: The Farmer’s Revolt by Rick Salutin and Theatre Passe Muraille
The St. Nicholas Hotel by James Reaney
Zastrozzi by George F. Walker
Billy Bishop Goes to War by John MacLachlan Gray with Eric Peterson
Balconville by David Fennario
Doc by Sharon Pollock
Drag Queens on Trial by Sky Gilbert
The Occupation of Heather Rose by Wendy Lill -
Modern Canadian Plays: (Volume 2, 4th Edition)
$39.95In Volume II, Wasserman shows us Canadian drama from 1985 up to 1997, during which we see women playwrights rise to greater prominence, along with Native, gay and lesbian, and Quebecois playwrights. But, continuing on from Volume I, this selection of plays not only takes us farther into the annals of the lives of the marginalized; it also provides a revealing cultural and philosophical cross-section of late-20th-century life in Canada.
In one way or another, we are shown ourselves as we are, and not in the critically-neutral, determinedly naïve terms of the contemporary mainstream in which we are all represented as gloriously enmeshed in a world of cybernetic stringency—the uncomplicated aesthetic of a never-ending stream of zeroes and ones.
If the plays presented in these two volumes are the contours of an “indigenous Canadian drama,” they outline anything but a norm.
The plays in this fourth edition of Modern Canadian Plays: Volume II date from 1985 to 1997:
Bordertown Café by Kelly Rebar
Polygraph by Robert Lepage and Marie Brassard
Moo by Sally Clark
The Orphan Muses by Michel Marc Bouchard
7 Stories by Morris Panych
Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing by Tomson Highway
Amigo’s Blue Guitar by Joan MacLeod
Lion in the Streets by Judith Thomson
Never Swim Alone by Daniel MacIvor
Fronteras Americanas by Guillermo Verdecchia
Harlem Duet by Djanet Sears
Problem Child by George F. Walker -
Modern Fables
$22.95Modern Fables is a darkly funny, feminist collection of essays about love and place.
In this darkly funny book about love in the digital age, Mikka Jacobsen challenges the notion that a single woman in her thirties writing about love is simply desperate. Instead, in an unflinching collage of coming-of-age narratives, she both elevates singledom and upholds the value of finding profound love. A work of feminist thinking, these interlinked essays blend memoir with cultural and literary criticism, exploring first loves and teenage drug-slingers, sports culture and blowjobs, catfishing and the problematic advice of self-help gurus.
At the same time, Modern Fables considers how we are shaped as much by the places we are from as by the times in which we live. Growing up and living in the deeply conservative Canadian prairies, what does it mean when you’re not at home at home? Whether she’s writing about a settler mother’s forays into shamanism in “The Indian Act” or considering the favourite writer of every Calgary man’s online-dating profile in “Kurt Vonnegut Lives on Tinder,” Mikka Jacobsen pulls no punches, delivering a fiery manifesto on love and place for our times.
-
Modern Jewish Plays
$30.00Six plays. Six playwrights. Six takes on Israel. From those who’ve been there, those who live there, and those that don’t.
“Jews are modern people. On every subject we are rational, we are children of enlightenment. Except. About Jews.” —Masada by Arthur Milner
“You are sovereign. You are the one who thinks, feels, decides and kills.” —The Murder of Isaac by Motti Lerner
“I’m going to do my best to save your skin. But I need your help. I need you to tell me what you really did during the war.” —The Trials of John Demjanjuk: A Holocaust Cabaret by Jonathan Garfinkel
“…at least I was still in Israel—and no matter how hopeless and bloody the country gets, simply being in Israel still counts for something back here among the folks who aren’t.” —Hand in Hand by Simon Block
“I’m treating you with respect. I only beat you up because I thought you were a Jew. One of those bleeding-heart leftists from the Theatre Department.” —Shooting Magda (The Palestinian Girl) by Joshua Sobol
“There are no answers, Nathan. Only positions. What’s yours?” —Reading Hebron by Jason Sherman
-
Modern Korean Verse in Sijo Form
$16.95A decade in the making, Jaihiun Kim’s Modern Korean Verse in Sijo Form offers what will be the twentieth century’s definitive collection of sijo. Kim begins with the work of Nam-son Ch’oe in the early 20th century and brings the collection up to date with recent poems from Chi-yob Yi and P’il-gon Kim.
Similar to the Japanese haiku in its brevity and imagery, Korean sijo has shown itself to be remarkably responsive to contemporary concerns. Employing the modern idiom but retaining a hint of Eastern tonality, Kim offers Westerners a rich and rare reading experience. Kim includes an essay on the history and practice of sijo poetry.
-
Moe and Me
$22.95The unique life story of late golfer Moe Norman
Moe Norman has been called “The Mysterious Genius of Golf.” His swing, his mannerisms, and his lifestyle were unusual to say the least: Moe played very quickly, never took a practice swing, often repeated phrases when talking, and lived in motel rooms most of this life. Moe, who died in 2004 at age 75, suffered from crippling insecurity and introversion, which kept him from succeeding at the highest levels of play. Yet Tiger Woods has said that only Moe and Ben Hogan actually “owned” their swings, and Moe described himself as “the happiest guy on two feet.”
In Moe and Me, Lorne Rubenstein, a sports journalist who knew Moe for 40 years, examines Moe Norman’s unique swing, his character, and how he lived his life well, despite being limited in significant ways. Rubenstein also offers his views on what made Moe special and what this most sensitive and peculiar man meant to him and to others.
-
Moguls, Monsters and Madmen
$28.95A sharp and witty exposé of show business and notorious characters
Barry Avrich is a Montreal-born, self-made film producer/director, flamboyant advertising executive, and legendary biographer and connector of moguls and stars. For over three decades he has relentlessly produced films on some of the most notorious show-business titans and also found the time to market and promote feature films, concerts, and the biggest shows on Broadway.
In his memoir, Moguls, Monsters and Madmen, Barry takes readers from his early days, shaping his brand as a creative adman with the infamous Garth Drabinsky and witnessing the genius of legendary Rolling Stones promoter Michael Cohl, to his acclaimed documentaries on Harvey Weinstein, Lew Wasserman, Bob Guccione, and many others. Go behind the scenes on his most provocative films — like The Last Mogul, Unauthorized, and Filthy Gorgeous — and follow Barry as he moves from the power rooms of Hollywood to the launches of incredible brands while hanging around with royalty, rogues, clients, and confidants.
An extraordinary raconteur, Barry spares no one, least of all himself, as he details his extraordinary relationships and encounters with everyone from Frank Sinatra, Quincy Jones, and Vanity Fair columnist Dominick Dunne to Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
-
Molly Lake in the Quebec Affair
$20.00It is spring, 1759. Two European empires are battling for North America. When Raiders from New France abduct her mother, Molly’s rescue effort crosses paths with a French assassin, Indians, government corruption, and a handsome enemy soldier. Samuel Endicott captures the essence of colonial Quebec and weaves a masterful yarn of a teenager coming of age within as besieged city’s stone walls. Employing exhaustive research, he brings to life the final days of New France that forever changed the continent. The Quebec Affair has elements every reader craves — memorable characters, thrilling action, romance, and suspense.
-
Molly O
$20.00 -
Molly of the Mall
$19.95Winner of the 2020 Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour!Aspiring novelist Molly MacGregor’s life is strikingly different from a literary heroine’s. Named for one of literature’s least romantic protagonists, Moll Flanders, Molly lives in Edmonton, a city she finds irredeemably unromantic, where she writes university term papers instead of novels, and sells shoes in the Largest Mall on Earth. There she seeks the other half of her young life’s own matched pair. Delightfully whimsical, Heidi L.M. Jacobs’ Molly of the Mall: Literary Lass and Purveyor of Fine Footwear explores its namesake’s love for the written word, love for the wrong men (and the right one), and her complicated love for her city.
-
Mom’s the Word
$16.95Mom’s the Word was created out of a Saturday morning writers’ support group. Getting together to share their experiences, six women performers struck upon the idea to write about what they were going through as mothers trying to maintain their careers, their individual identities and their relationships with their partners. The result is an evening of hilarious stories, bittersweet monologues, poetic reflections and revelatory anecdotes. Touching tales of giving birth to a premature baby are balanced against comic, ribald rants on diaper soup; whispered, hesitant conversations about sex after children; and the desperate confessionals of the over-stressed.
All six moms have two children, display the keenly-honed emotional edge of the sleep-deprived and share among themselves (and with the audience) some of the most outrageous stories ever heard on the agony and ecstasy of motherhood—all of them true. In her introduction, Barbara Crook allows us to meet the participants in this extraordinary collaboration and chronicles the evolution of the play from life to art. Mom’s the Word offers its audiences an emotional nakedness that is instantly recognizable as elemental. An evening with these Moms is one of those rare occasions where life, stripped to its essentials, does not imitate art, but lifts itself on its diaper-pins to become art.
The result is one of the most popular shows ever to come out of the Vancouver theatre community. Originally presented at the 1994 Women in View Festival, Mom’s the Word moved rapidly from smaller stages to a tour of Western Canada in 1996-1997; to Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth in 1998; to London in 1999; and is scheduled for performances in the USA, Israel and Spain in 2000.
-
Momento
$22.00Why do we stand in front of art and look at it? Why do we go to galleries and museums? What does it feel like? What do you expect to have happen there? How do you feel before you enter, after you leave? What do you do with all your moods, your attentions, your restlessness, your curiosity, your sense of time? How does a visit come to be in the way that a painting comes to be? Does it matter how you begin? Does it matter if you’re ready? Jeffery Donaldson’s Momento answers these questions and more by offering a poetic daydream about the curious, otherworldly, but urgent and existential experience of art, artifacts, and the buildings that house them. This little book itself is like a visit to a museum. Enter and wander as you please.
-
Moments of Joy
$22.95Manfred Weiszl lies dying of cancer in an upper room of a grand old Toronto house. His last wish is to see his son, Rupert, from whom he has been estranged for sixteen years, and much of the action derives from attempts to get Rupert’s cooperation. Manfred’s sister Pauline, the housekeeper Marie (and Marie’s boyfriend Steve), as well as Manfred’s dead wife, Gertrude are central to Manfred’s life and each have their role to play in the unfolding drama of a family in crisis dealing with issues of death, marriage breakup, gender identity, and generally just trying to find ways to live. The novel explores how these characters interact with each other and play off each other, and how an intervening fate operates in their lives as they discover that through (or in spite of ) the incredible antics of mankind, life can be salvaged, can be joyful and magical. Human angels are a very big part of this book, and eventually come to the rescue of this dysfunctional family coming to terms with the capricious workings of fate and the human heart.
-
Moments of Perception
$29.95Film is the art form of our times. It has formed the background of our lives, informed visual arts practices, and formed our culture’s stories, its memory.
Moments of Perception is a landmark book. The first history of twentieth and early-twenty-first-century Canadian experimental filmmaking, it maps avant-garde film across the country from the 1950s to the present day, including its contradictions and complexities.
Experimental film is political in its very existence, critical of the status quo by definition. In Canada, some of the country’s best-known artists took up the moving image as a form of artistic expression, allowing them to explore explicitly political themes. Mike Hoolboom’s exposure of the horror of AIDS, Josephine Massarella’s concern for the environment, and Joyce Wieland’s satiric look at US patriotism are just a few examples of work that contributed to social movements and provided a means to explore issues of race and gender and 2SLGBTQ+ and Indigenous identities.
Featuring a major essay on the history of the movement by Michael Zryd and profiles of key filmmakers by Stephen Broomer and editors Jim Shedden and Barbara Sternberg, Moments of Perception offers a fresh perspective on the ever-evolving history of Canada’s experimental film and moving image media arts.