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

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.