Ontario bookseller Richard Bachmann has released some comments on the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction shortlist, which was announced earlier this week. In full:
Ontario bookseller Richard Bachmann has released some comments on the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-fiction shortlist, which was announced earlier this week. In full:
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And has Mr. Bachmann, this luminous critic among us, read the nominated titles? What exactly bothers him about them? My suspicion is that, like so many these day, he finds history dull and avoids books of more than 200 pages. Or perhaps he will only read books with Canadian topics. Weak.
Mr. Bachmann is one of the better read people around, I believe, and certainly a pillar of the Canadian independent bookselling world. That a person who knows so much about books in Canada makes a comment like this gives the comment considerable weight.
More to the point, it seems to me, is the nomination process. What are the criteria for submission? Is it possible that some good non-fiction books slipped through the cracks and weren’t entered? It’s happened before: No Great Mischief wasn’t entered in the GGs the year it came out because someone forgot, and I know that certain smaller publishrs find submitting books to the many competitions a very expensive proposition. One reason why a particular book may not make a short list is because it was never in the running to begin with.
Mary
All I wish to see is some indication that he has read the books in question, and can thus justify his snarky criticism. I seriously doubt that he has, which bankrupts his criticism. Also, perhaps some indication of which other nominated titles he feels superior – so that we can judge his taste, while he’s judging the Taylor prize jurors. I suspect that he, like most booksellers, wants publicity for books that will sell – i.e., light, short books on currently trendy topics, or memoirs. I would note that two of the nominated titles (Cook and Siljak) received fabulous reviews in the Globe and Mail earlier this year.
“I suspect that he, like most booksellers, wants publicity for books that will sell – i.e., light, short books on currently trendy topics, or memoirs.”
Wow. Could you possibly be any more insulting? And on any more wrong-headed of grounds?
Perhaps I’m wrong in that bit of speculation. But let’s be clear, HE is the one who went out of his way to be sarcastic and insulting – toward both the prize jurors and the finalists. Am I the only one to find his little papal pronouncement on letter-head obnoxious? If he wants to throw aspersions over others, perhaps he could stoop to offer more specifics. I’m still curious as to which Canadian masterworks he feels were shortchanged. He must have very strong grounds indeed for his mean-spirited indignation.
I’m afraid I’ll have to agree with Jeff.
I know Mr. Bachmann, and although he is certainly well-read, this missive from the gods is not out or character.
He also regularly disagrees with the G-G award winners and a few years back started his own award with the cloying title of “Drummer General’s Award”.
Personally, I don’t think his letter is that bad–he’s just raising an eyebrow at the extreme shortness of the shortlist, not necessarily casting aspersions on any of the three nominees (I have to agree with him). And, yes, both volumes of Tim Cook’s WWI series are fantastic, but this kind of shortlist takes you a step closer to winning by acclamation.