"Choosing His Coffin"

"You call yourself a son o' mine?... You come telling me you going to Canada as an immigrant? Where Canada is? What is Canada?"

- Austin Clarke, Choosing His Coffin

This semester, I'm taking a course at my uni called "African Canadian Literature" and among the 16 "prescribed" books, the first one we're covering is Choosing His Coffin. This collection of 20 short stories is written by Austin Clarke, a Bajan-Canadian who currently lives in Toronto and has been received and been nominated for a number of awards.


Now, I've gotta admit- based on the track record of U of T English Profs' Reading Lists, I wasn't exactly jumping at the idea of starting the year with a 384 page book. I'm glad I got around to starting it though, because as soon as I was through with the first story- one entitled Discipline, about an immigrant family man's challenges in understanding Canadian life- I knew I was hooked. 
The stories in this collection are witty and fun, sociological and emotional, honest and hilarious- all while asking the fundamental question of how to reconciliate a Canadian "authenticity" with your unfamiliarity of the land. Clarke's witty style is especially appealing with his no-holds-bar humour and openness to bring up even the most sombre of topics, such as suicide. The characters are dynamic, easy to sympathize with and more than one-dimensional.


If you are any of these:
- a Canadian immigrant
- black
- Canadian
- born to immigrant parents
- of Carribean descent
- a North American resident
- a fan of Canadian fiction


there's a goood chance you'll enjoy this book as much as I did!