Over the years we've brought you a zamboni's load worth of coverage for Grant Lawrence and his first book, Adventures In Solitude, one of the very first titles we chose to feature in our Vancouver Book Club. Grant had told me about it as he was beginning to write it and I've personally followed it since it was an idea all the way to it (and Grant) WINNING a BC Book Award. Damn, I love that book.
We've done a few POSTS about Grant's latest title, The Lonely End of the Rink, and I've slowly been reading it over the past few months. I finished it a couple weeks ago, just in time to hear that it has been nominated for the same award his first book won - BC Book Prizes' Bill Duthie Bookseller's Choice Award!
It took me a while to get through it because I've been juggling a few others, two of which came out at pretty much the same time as this one and are seen flanking it below. While the other two here are pretty much only for rabid hockey fans, The Lonely End of the Rink is for anyone who loves a good story and is interested in the culture of British Columbia. Like Adventures in Solitude, it's a memoir where Grant takes us from his (extremely) nerdy childhood, through his years as frontman for the band The Smugglers, to the present day where he's a music journalist who heads up a ragtag beer league team. Consistent throughout is his self-deprecating brand of humour, hilarious hijinx, a history of the Canucks and their wayward path, and essentially it's a fantastic story of the underdog coming out on top.
Grant was nice enough to sign the advance copy I received, and I guess he forgot that he had signed the advance copy I had of his other book, years ago. When his next one comes out I'm going to try and get my hands on another advance copy and see how he signs it. Stay tuned.
Learn more about The Lonely End of the Rink HERE and at GrantLawrence.ca.
