Published by a major Canadian imprint, in some ways the book embodies the very best of Canadian literary culture. The success of the conversations lies in part with producer Doris Dumais' pairing of the two. We'd both been connected with cultural nationalism in the sixties and seventies, we'd both worked with small literary publishers, we'd both come from a small place to a metropolis, we'd both written in several modes. As dry as this potentially sounds, it works startlingly well. To have these two literary behemoths who had never met before sharing ideas and thoughts on their lives, their country and their work is a rare and unusual treat.
Writers are, by training and nature, curious creatures.
Curious about the world around them and the lives of others they encounter. More than conversations, then. Atwood and Beaulieu interview each other and the result is not the literary jousting that it might have been with different players and a different environment. Rather it is the lively conversation of two of Canada's brightest literary stars, as well as gentle probing into their respective backgrounds and what moves them as artists. That's completely different from a leftist, gauchiste .