(Toronto): M(cClelland) & S(tewart, 1994]. First edition. Card covers with French flaps. Inscribed by Vassanji to the organizers of a reading in Kingston Ontario. Vassanji was awarded the Giller Prize for this work. Near fine..

Synopsis

M.G. Vassanji was born in Kenya, and raised in Tanzania. He took a doctorate in physics at M.I.T. and came to Canada in 1978. While working as a research associate and lecturer at the University of Toronto in the 1980s he began to dedicate himself seriously to a longstanding passion: writing. His first novel, The Gunny Sack , won a regional Commonwealth Writers Prize, and he was invited to be writer-in-residence at the University of Iowa. The novel’s success was a spur, Vassanji has commented: “It was translated into several languages. I was confident that this was what I could do, that writing was not just wishful thinking. In 1989 I quit my full-time job and began researching The Book of Secrets .” That celebrated, bestselling novel won the inaugural Giller Prize, in 1994. Vassanji’s other books include the acclaimed novels No New Land (1991) and Amriika (1999), and Uhuru Street (1991), a collection of stories. His unique place in Canadian literature comes from his elegant, classical style, his narrative reach, and his interest in characters trying to reconcile different worlds within themselves. The subtle relations of the past and present are also constants in his writing: “When someone asks you where you are from or who you are, there is a whole resume of who you are. I know very few people who do not have a past to explain. That awareness is part of my work.” M.G. Vassanji was awarded the Harbourfront Festival Prize in 1994 in recognition of his achievement in and contribution to the world of letters, and was in the same year chosen as one of twelve Canadians on Maclean’s Honour Roll. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two sons.

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Details

Bookseller: Robert Wright Books, ABAC / ILAB (CA)
Bookseller's Inventory #: 12004
Title: The Book of Secrets.
Author: VASSANJI, M.G
Book Condition: Used
Publisher: (Toronto): M(cClelland) & S(tewart, 1994]. First edition.
Keywords: CANLITM-Z; M.G. VASSANJI

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Robert Wright Books, ABAC / ILAB

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Robert Wright Books, ABAC / ILAB

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Tamworth, Ontario

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Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

First Edition: In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Inscribed: When a book is described as being inscribed, it indicates that a short note written by the author or a previous owner has been...
Fine: A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
Flap(s): The portion of a book cover or cover jacket that folds into the book from front to back. The flap can contain biographical...