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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands Hardback - 2022

by Kate Beaton

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This seller has earned a 4.49 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
4.49 / 5 (136 total reviews)

Reader reviews for Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

Review summary

This seller has earned a 4.49 of 5 Stars rating from internet customers.
4.49 / 5 (136 total reviews)

Readers describe Kate Beaton’s memoir as a stark, empathetic portrayal of two years in the Alberta oil sands, a notable shift from her earlier humor. They praise its nuanced storytelling, humanizing view of workers, and black-and-white art that captures industrial desolation. The book’s coverage of misogyny, harassment, sexual assault, isolation, environmental harm, and impacts on Indigenous communities is widely noted as difficult but illuminating. Reviewers commend its restraint and context-rich afterword, with some admitting they skipped painful sections. Overall, it’s considered important and discussion-worthy, though not an easy or “fun” read.

Readers say this book is:
empatheticharrowingnuancedeye-openingsoberingpowerfulinfuriatingdepressinghonestheavy

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From the publisher

A New York Times Notable book! One of Barack Obama's favorite books of 2022! Winner of Canada Reads 2023!

"An exceptionally beautiful book about loneliness, labor, and survival."--Carmen Maria Machado

Before there was Kate Beaton, New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark! A Vagrant, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beaton, specifically Mabou, a tight-knit seaside community where the lobster is as abundant as beaches, fiddles, and Gaelic folk songs. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta's oil rush--part of the long tradition of East Coasters who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in the homeland they love so much. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands, where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet is never discussed.

Beaton's natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, northern lights, and boreal forest. Her first full length graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people.

Details

  • Title Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
  • Author Kate Beaton
  • Binding Hardback
  • Pages 436
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Drawn & Quarterly
  • Publication date 2022-09-13
  • Illustrated Yes
  • Features Dust Cover, Illustrated, Maps
  • ISBN 9781770462892 / 1770462899
  • Weight 2.7 lbs (1.22 kg)
  • Dimensions 9.9 x 7.5 x 1.6 in (25.15 x 19.05 x 4.06 cm)
  • Category Graphic Novels
  • Library of Congress subjects Alberta, Graphic novels
  • Dewey Decimal Code B

Media reviews

Citations

  • Booklist, 06/01/2022, Page 50
  • Kirkus Reviews, 06/15/2022, Page 0
  • Library Journal, 06/01/2022, Page 145
  • Publishers Weekly, 04/11/2022, Page 0
  • Shelf Awareness, 12/02/2022, Page 0

About the author

Kate Beaton was born and raised in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. After graduating from Mount Allison University with a degree in anthropology, she moved to Alberta in search of work that would allow her to pay down her student loans. During the years she spent out West, Beaton began creating webcomics under the name Hark! A Vagrant!, quickly drawing a substantial following around the world.

The collections of her landmark strip Hark! A Vagrant and Step Aside Pops each spent several months on the New York Times graphic novel bestseller list, as well as appearing on best of the year lists from Time, The Washington Post, Vulture, NPR Books, and winning the Eisner, Ignatz, Harvey, and Doug Wright Awards. She has also published the picture books King Baby and The Princess and the Pony.

Beaton lives in Cape Breton with her family.

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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

by Beaton, Kate

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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands
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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

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Ducks : Two Years in the Oil Sands
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Ducks : Two Years in the Oil Sands

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Ducks : Two Years in the Oil Sands
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Ducks : Two Years in the Oil Sands

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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands [Hardcover] Beaton, Kate
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Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands

by Kate Beaton

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Montreal: Drawn and Quarterly, 2022. 1st. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. Kate Beaton. Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 430 pages illustrated in b&w by Beaton. Before there was Kate Beaton, New York Times best-selling cartoonist of Hark A Vagrant, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beatons, a tight-knit seaside community. After university, Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta's oil rush, part of the long tradition of East Coast Canadians who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in the homeland they love so much. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, what the journey will actually cost Katie will be far more than she anticipates. Beaton's natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, Northern Lights, and Rocky Mountains. Her first full length graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is an untold story of Canada: a country… Read more
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