Literary Review of Canada's "100 Most Important Canadian Books"

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Howie Meeker was shocked when he heard that his first book is 63 in the Literary Review of Canada’s list of the 100 most important Canadian books ever written.

"You’re kidding," Mr. Meeker laughed when reached at his Vancouver Island home. "That’s sensational."

The inclusion of Howie Meeker’s Hockey Basics, a skills manual for young hockey players, may seem like an odd choice for a literary review’s Top 100 book list. But this is not your typical best-of list.

The literary editors ranked books chronologically - starting with Jacques Cartier’s Account of the Second Voyage of the Navigation of 1535 and 1536 - and according to the work’s impact on the Canadian landscape.

Three literary staff members picked the 100 titles from more than 300 entries; readers of the magazine were asked to submit their picks with a brief blurb in defence of the choice. "We were looking for the most persuasive logic in each case," said Mark Lovewell, co- publisher of the magazine.

The final list is an eclectic mix, ranging from children’s books to royal commission reports. "I can’t imagine any other country that would include royal commission writers," laughed Bronwyn Drainie, editor of Literary Review of Canada.

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  1. 3.
    Wacousta
    by John Richardson

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  2. 5.
    Roughing It In The Bush
    by Susanna Strickland Moodie

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  3. 7.
    ?

  4. 8.
    Wild Animals I Have Known
    by Ernest Thompson Seton

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  5. 10.
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    The Imperialist (1904)
    by Sara Jeanette Duncan

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  6. 12.
    Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (Norton Critical Edition)
    by Stephen Leacock

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  7. 13.
    Flint And Feather
    by Pauline E. Johnson

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  8. 14.
    Maria Chapdelaine
    by Louis Hemon

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  9. 15.
    Jalna
    by Mazo De LA Roche

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  10. 16.
    ?

  11. 17.
    Such Is My Beloved (New Canadian Library)
    by Morley Callaghan

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  12. 18.
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    The Commercial Empire of the St. Lawrence, 1760–1850
    by Donald Creighton

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  13. 19.
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    Menaud, maître-draveur (Boss of the River)
    by Félix-Antoine Savard

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  14. 20.
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    As for Me and My House
    by Sinclair Ross

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  15. 21.
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    Two Solitudes
    by Hugh MacLennan

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  16. 22.
    The Tin Flute (New Canadian Library)
    by Gabrielle Roy

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  17. 24.
    Who Has Seen the Wind
    by W.O. Mitchell

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  18. 25.
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    The Plouffe Family
    by Roger Lemelin

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  19. 26.
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    Refus Global (Complete Refusal)
    by Paul-Émile Borduas

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  20. 27.
    Empire and Communications
    by Harold A. Innis

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  21. 29.
    People of the Deer (Death of a People)
    by Farley Mowat

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  22. 30.
    ?

  23. 32.
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    Insight: A Study of Human Understanding
    by Bernard J. F. Lonergan

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  24. 33.
    Anatomy of Criticism: Four Essays
    by Northrop Frye

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  25. 34.
    Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
    by Mordecai Richler

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  26. 35.
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    THE SPICE BOX OF EARTH
    by Leonard Cohen

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  27. 36.
    The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of Typographic Man
    by Marshall McLuhan

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  28. 37.
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    Renegade in Power: The Diefenbaker Years
    by Peter C. Newman

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  29. 38.
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    Report of the Canada Royal Commission on Health Services
    by Hall Commission

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  30. 39.
    The Stone Angel (Phoenix Fiction Series)
    by Margaret Laurence

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  31. 40.
    In Praise of Older Women
    by Stephen Vizinczey

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  32. 42.
    Next Episode
    by Hubert Aquin

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  33. 44.
    A Season in the Life of Emmanuel (New Canadian Library)
    by Marie-Claire Blais

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  34. 45.
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    Combat journal for Place d'Armes: A personal narrative
    by Scott Symons

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  35. 46.
    The Ecstasy of Rita Joe
    by George Ryga

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  36. 47.
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    Final Report of the Royal Commission on Bilingualism and Biculturalism
    by Laurendeau-Dunton Commission

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  37. 48.
    Michel Tremblay: Les Belles-Soeurs (BCP French Texts)
    by Rachel Killick

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  38. 49.
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    Federalism and the French Canadians
    by Pierre Elliot Trudeau

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Created by starlagurl on Apr 17, 2006.
 

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