Politics/Current Events BOOK RELEASE ISBN 13: 978‐0‐86492‐622‐7 $19.95 / 160 pp / 5 x 8 / pb What We Talk About When We Talk About War Pub Date: October 2011 (Canada) Noah Richler In the last decade, Canada’s operative myth of being a peacekeeping nation has been replaced by that of a “warrior” nation. With this change, the concept of the Canadian soldier as peacekeeper has been transformed into the Canadian solider as confident and able war‐maker. On what was expected to be the eve of Canada’s exit from Afghanistan, Noah Richler, in this expanded version of his provocative 2009 Antonine Maillet‐Northrop Frye Lecture, examines how the governing narrative employed by politicians, the military, and the media has evolved from the novel’s more subversive constitution of the world into an epic narrative form. This form, the associated propagandistic jargon (victory, defeat, heroes, remembrance, sacrifice), and its clear distinction between good and evil have populated public pronouncements and media coverage, resulting in a revised national mythology and a re‐interpretation of the events of past wars. Richler suggests that our changing narrative about war speaks volumes about our collective consciousness and how we have conceived and redefined ourselves as a nation as we talked ourselves into, through, and ultimately out of our participation in war. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Noah Richler made documentaries and features for BBC Radio for fourteen years before returning to Canada in 1998. He has been books editor and literary columnist for The National Post and has contributed to numerous publications, including The Guardian, Punch, The Daily Telegraph, The Walrus, Maisonneuve, SaturdayNight, The Toronto Star, and The Globe and Mail. He is author of This Is My Country, What’s Yours? A Literary Atlas of Canada. He lives in Toronto. AWARDS 2007 B.C. Award for Canadian Non‐Fiction for This Is My Country, What’s Yours? A Literary Atlas of Canada CONTACT INFORMATION For review copies, author interviews, or publication excerpts, please contact Corey Redekop at [email protected] or call (888) 926.8377. High‐res book cover and author image files are available at www.gooselane.com. Corey Redekop, Publicity & Promotions Tel (506) 450 4251 / Toll free 1 (888) 926 8377 [email protected] www.gooselane.com .