PRESS & media
WHERE TO GET ANECDOTES
You can order directly from Book*hug Press or consider supporting your favourite independent bookstore. Here are some of my favourite bookstores:
Another Story Bookshop (Toronto) | Flying Books (Toronto) |Glass Bookshop (Edmonton) | Librairie Drawn & Quarterly (Montreal) | Librairie Saint Henri (Montreal) | Librarie l’Euguélionne (Montreal) | Massey Books (Vancouver) Munro's Books (Victoria) | Novel Idea Bookstore (Kingston) | Type Books (Toronto)
Or you can put in a request for the book at your local library!
Another Story Bookshop (Toronto) | Flying Books (Toronto) |Glass Bookshop (Edmonton) | Librairie Drawn & Quarterly (Montreal) | Librairie Saint Henri (Montreal) | Librarie l’Euguélionne (Montreal) | Massey Books (Vancouver) Munro's Books (Victoria) | Novel Idea Bookstore (Kingston) | Type Books (Toronto)
Or you can put in a request for the book at your local library!
ALL LIT UP"For that busy person on your list who might not have time for long-form fiction, Anecdotes is the perfect pick. Whip-smart and brutally funny, these bite-sized bits of poetry and prose blend flat-faced reportage with sardonic absurdism to dig into difficult contemporary topics: political apathy, climate disaster, sexual violence, and the stickiness of the female body. They also provide useful life advice, like how to invoke imaginary children in order to win an argument, how to find a good psychic after your cat runs away, or how to avoid being murdered at your job interview. Part of the surprise and delight of Mockler’s writing is that it resolutely defies genre. Short stories give way to autofiction, which in turn gives way to found poetry and a chain of scenes linked by their recurring protagonists, Past and Future: strange and poignant personifications. Equal parts blunt and rambling, abrasive and comically healing, Anecdotes peels back the gummy layers of reality, revelling in its ludicrous inner core."
—Erica McKeen, All Lit Up 2024 SUMMER READING"When first described, Anecdotes by Kathryn Mockler doesn’t sound like it would work, but these rapid-fire vignettes create entire worlds and drama with speed, ease, and a trippy dexterity. Lots of fun and unlike anything else you’ll read this summer." —Shawn Micallef (2024 Trillium Judge and author of Stroll: Psychogeographic Walking Tours of Toronto), Writers' Trust 2024 Summer Reading Recommendations
THE TORONTO STAR"Mockler has published four books of poetry, edited an anthology of climate stories, runs a literary newsletter and publishes a website. All to say, her writing range is wide, as exemplified in this new volume. Written in four parts with pieces — short stories, flash fiction, fictional conversations — that examine sexual violence, abuse and environmental collapse." —Deborah Dundas,Toronto Star
|
Book*hug Press, 2023
THE AMPERSAND REVIEW"I highly recommend Anecdotes by Kathryn Mockler, a hybrid collection arranged in four parts. Particularly gripping is Mockler’s deep dive into autofiction, stories that span childhood to adulthood and those emotionally charged moments—first love, first crush, first period and more—that inform our growing identity and show us what it means to belong. In powerful, distilled prose, Mockler seamlessly blends dark humour with pain. Add in absurdist flash fiction, climate anxiety, micro-conversations—this is a book with existential bite." —Catherine Graham, The Ampersand Review
FRIEZE"This dark and profoundly relatable satire ... masterfully balances existentialism and humility. It is a quick, thought-provoking read divided into four distinct parts, with each section intertwining common themes that delve into the stark realities of girlhood, the consequences of a forced transition into adulthood and the perilous state of our world amidst the climate crisis. Mockler’s characters and personifications of time ponder the possibility of ‘things getting better’ – posed not merely as a question but a genuine source of encouragement."
—Kate Cunnington, Frieze |
Prism“From kids bullied in a schoolyard to environmental collapse, Mockler sucker-punches her readers with the courage to shine light and comment on serious issues. Her writing is uncommonly direct and she does not try to sugar coat the hopelessness that many of us experience when contemplating the issues she puts forth. Yet, she does give us the only thing that could possibly manage such harsh reality— outrageously good humour.” —Deborah Vail, PRISM International
SUBTERRAIN“One-of-a-kind assemblage of short fictions, a book with one of the most original covers I’ve ever seen.” —Heidi Greco, subTerrain Magazine
WHITE WALL REVIEW"She thoughtfully exposes how content we are with embracing ourselves until someone tells us it’s wrong to do so. And she’s as brutal as she is unforgiving because holding onto that shame is exhausting. Mockler’s prose allows us to grieve our youth; to visit those parts of ourselves that felt powerless and give them somewhere to lay their head. “I don’t want to be a woman!” she puts indignantly. It’s that outrage born from shame as our sense of self shifts. When giving voice to negative emotions around experiences that reveal a great deal of pain – they’re often overridden by a paralyzing fear. Mockler teaches us to trust the transformative process, which reveals a commonality in our repression of these difficult emotions." —Mia Johnson, White Wall Review
THE BRITISH COLUMBIA REVIEW"While Anecdotes is certainly not encouraging subject-wise, the clarity and wit of the prose make it hard to put this book down. Mockler strips out the fluff and gets to the real heart of issues, whether they are individual or global." —Candice Fertile, The British Columbia Review
|
For your friend who wants to laugh their way to the climate apocalypse:
Anecdotes by Kathryn Mockler (Book*hug Press)
This is a book of short fiction, one-act plays, and poetry, all with an eye to the climate crisis, the misogyny, and the capitalist apathy that plague our world and populate our nightmares. It is not a depressing read, though! Mockler writes with a vulnerability and tongue-in-cheek humour that will draw you in and allow her message to land with a loud, self-aware thud. The content of this book ranges from auto-fictive short stories based on Mockler’s childhood and young adulthood, to climate grief–based found poems, to parables featuring The Past, The Present, and The Future. Throughout, Mockler’s voice is unsentimental and nonchalant, which makes the content—she covers childhood bullying, sexual violence, shame, loneliness, climate change, the meaning of the universe—resonate all the more deeply. This book is totally inventive and irreverent, displaying humanity at its vilest, but in the most fun way possible. —Susan Sanford Blades, All LIT UP
Anecdotes by Kathryn Mockler (Book*hug Press)
This is a book of short fiction, one-act plays, and poetry, all with an eye to the climate crisis, the misogyny, and the capitalist apathy that plague our world and populate our nightmares. It is not a depressing read, though! Mockler writes with a vulnerability and tongue-in-cheek humour that will draw you in and allow her message to land with a loud, self-aware thud. The content of this book ranges from auto-fictive short stories based on Mockler’s childhood and young adulthood, to climate grief–based found poems, to parables featuring The Past, The Present, and The Future. Throughout, Mockler’s voice is unsentimental and nonchalant, which makes the content—she covers childhood bullying, sexual violence, shame, loneliness, climate change, the meaning of the universe—resonate all the more deeply. This book is totally inventive and irreverent, displaying humanity at its vilest, but in the most fun way possible. —Susan Sanford Blades, All LIT UP
press coverage
Gift Guide Week: Susan Sandford Blades Picks, November 29, 2024, All Lit Up
Gift Guide Week: Erica McKeen's Picks, November 26, 2024, All Lit Up
Tea or Tequila: A Review of Anecdotes by Kathryn Mockler, Deborah Vail, September 26, 2024, PRISM international
Short Story Collections to Delight & Unsettle, Hollay Ghadery, September 3, 2024, 49th Shelf
Interview with Jon DiSavino, Podcast, August 2024, Short Story Today
Heidi Greco reviews Anecdotes, July 2024, subTerrain Magazine
Interview with Tim Blackett, Episode 6, Podcast, July 5, 2024, Tim Blackett and Friends
"Our Coming of Age: Period Shame and Ecological Disaster" by Mia Johnson, White Wall Review
Experimental (and Exploratory) Storytelling, Carleigh Baker, March 4, 2024, 49th Shelf
Reframing Rage (climate & other) with Kathryn Mockler, Reframeables Podcast
Q&A with Kathryn Mockler, Girls to the Front
55 Books by past CBC Literary Prizes winners and finalists that came out in 2023, CBC
Michael Bryson on Anecdotes, Art / Life
A 'deliciously dark and clever experiment' by Candace Fertile, The British Columbia Review
An Interview with Kathryn Mockler, author of Anecdotes, All Lit Up
Power Q&A with Kathryn Mockler, River Street Writing
Books of the Month: September Edition, Vol. 1 Brooklyn
Our books Editor on the 30 (plus!) new reads we can't wait to cosy up with this fall, Toronto Star
What to Read this Summer, Frieze
Most Anticipated: Our 2023 Fall Fiction Preview, 49th Shelf
24 Books by Past CBC Poetry Prize Winners and Finalists Being Published in 2023, CBC Books
What We’re Reading: Staff Writers’ Picks, Spring 2023, Hamilton Review of the Books
