Midnight Light: A Personal Journey to the North

by Dave Bidini

Bestselling and beloved author of On A Cold Road, Dave Bidini uses his stint as guest columnist at the Yellowknifer newspaper to explore the "Gateway to the North," the meaning of community, and the issues facing residents and their daily lives.

As a member of the legendary band the Rheostatics, a journalist and a bestselling author, Dave Bidini has had the great privilege of exploring Canada's incredible geography from coast to coast to coast. Yet, in his many travels, he'd never visited the Northwest Territories, "the white ribbon across the top of North American maps found beneath a paper crease still crisp at the fold." After an all-too-brief visit to a literary festival in Yellowknife, Bidini was hooked on the place and its people. From the time he returned home, all he could do was think about going back to the North.

At the same time, Bidini found himself at a career crossroads. His position as a columnist with a national newspaper had come to an end, leaving him reflecting on his lifelong love of newspapers and questioning the future of journalism in Canada. Writing had always been Bidini's way to make sense of the world around him and he was determined to find an outlet for his unique perspective. Still fresh with the memories of his recent visit to the Northwest Territories, Bidini contacts the Yellowknifer, one of the last truly local and independent newspapers, and signs on as a guest columnist for an unforgettable summer. Midnight Light: A Personal Journey to the North, is Dave Bidini's fast, funny and, at times, powerfully poignant chronicle of the incredible time he spent "up there" in the NWT.

The Yellowknifer, like the city it serves, bucks all of the trends and invokes all of the charms and frustrations of stubborn nationalism. The newspaper is completely locally-focused and treats the global news sharescape as if it never existed. The paper gives Bidini a ground-level view of a city and its environs, including Great Bear Lake, Tuktoyaktuk, and Nahanni National Park, that are on one hand lost in time, and on another faced with the very stark realities of poverty, racism, addiction, and hopelessness. Along the way, Midnight Light introduces readers to an extraordinary cast of characters, including Dene elders and entrepreneurs adapting to a changing way of life, various artists who are giving the region a powerful voice to the rest of the world, politicians and law enforcement officers who are dealing with the community's difficult history and economic realities, and an assortment of complicated souls from the South who have travelled North as a "last chance" to build lives for themselves.

Woven throughout Midnight Light's tremendous narrative is the story of the irascible John McFadden, a veteran Toronto newspaper crime reporter who "escaped" to Yellowknife. McFadden is the key character in the Yellowknifer's ongoing fight with the authorities (RCMP forces) who do not take kindly to journalistic doggedness. McFadden and the paper became the centre of attention across the country when he was charged with obstruction and threatened with jail time. He was found not guilty and the police were forced to change their tactics. Yet the tension between the RCMP and the Yellowknifer remains unresolved.

In Midnight Light, Dave Bidini brings Yellowknife, the Northwest Territories and its remarkable and proud people to brilliant life.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Canada, Memoir, Biography

352 pages, Paperback

First published September 18, 2018

About the author

DAVE BIDINI is the author of nine books. His play, "The Five Hole Stories," was performed by One Yellow Rabbit and toured Canada in winter, 2009, and his two "hockumentaries," The Hockey Nomad and The Hockey Nomad Goes To Russia were Gemini-nominated films, and The Hockey Nomad won for Best Documentary.

Bidini is the recipient of numerous National Magazine Awards, and is a weekly columnist in The National Post. In 1994, his former band, Rheostatics, won a Genie Award for the song 'Claire' (from the film Whale Music), and two of their albums were included in the Top 20 Canadian Albums of All Time. His first hockey book, Tropic of Hockey, was named one of the Top 100 Canadian Books of All Time by McCllland and Stewart, and his baseball odyssey, Baseballissimo, is currently being made into a feature film.

He is a board member of Street Soccer Canada, and has attended two Homeless World Cups, traveling with Team Canada to Melbourne and Milan.

David Bidini lives in Toronto with his wife, guitarist Janet Morassutti, and their two children.

Reviews

[Kierkegaard's Pancakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bidini is "comfort food" for Canadians, like me, who are frustrated with the tidal wave of politics, entertainment and "world-view" washing over us from South of the border. Thankfully, Bidini took his journalistic unemployment and converted it into an investigation of the North with Yellowknife as his back drop.

Meant to tell the story of a fellow journalist and his conflict with the RCMP, the minor characters, history of the North and landscape, stole my attention, rendering the legal ups and downs almost peripheral.

That's the attraction of this book, it's Bidini's immersion in Yellowknife that brings home the sights and sounds I'll never be able to experience for myself.

A "travelogue", a "bio", a "diary", a keen eye observing the life of Canada's north and a relationship with the "First Nations" we created and they continue to inherit generation after generation. Realism and humour balance Bidini's take on life, this way the reader doesn't become so despairing for the north that the reading ends, neither the other extreme, not so humourous, that Bidini is mistaken for "Hunter S. Thompson goes to Yellowknife".

The literary critics tell us: this is Canada's third wave of writers, if so, Bidini is plodding along nicely, becoming a main stay, with a regular contribution to the Canadian library. He's one of those, I look for now, just to see what he will focus on next.

For bringing a little bit of Canada closer to us all I award Dave Bidini the "Berton-Mowat-Gzowski" award for Canadian writing. Now if he would wrestle a wolf... that would be character building ;)

[Evelyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave Bidini was a presenter at my local Word on the Street festival recently. I have to admit that I had not previously heard of him, his Juno, Genie and Gemini wins and his shortlisting in Canada Reads notwithstanding. Perhaps I have been living under a rock?
Regardless, the program advised Dave would be reading from and discussing his most recent book, Midnight Light: A Personal Journey to the North and having lived in Yellowknife, NWT for nearly 7 years, I was hooked. I wanted to hear what this complete stranger had to say about the place I spent my 20's, the place that formed me, imperfections and all.
As you do at these festivals, I bought the book and went to have it autographed, mentioning of course that I had lived in YK and after a short conversation (when, why) Dave took his pen and wrote All Hail NWT followed by a squiggle I can only presume is his signature.
If you have ever wondered what it is like to live in Canada's North in the summertime, then I highly recommend this book. Dave only spent a summer in Yellowknife, but if he ever decides to spend a winter there and write about that experience, I would read it.
Nothing is left out; you have the city and a few communities, their buildings and people, the lakes, the midnight light, even the Northern Lights at the end of summer, airplanes, fishing, houseboats, Folk on the Rocks, the bars, the newspaper, the prison, artists, musicians, the culture, politics, bugs, history, mining, legends, and polar bears.
This was a real trip down memory lane for me and I nodded along and thrilled at every remembrance: the "old" prison that was beside a trailer court and you could see the prisoners out playing baseball on the diamond on the grounds (I lived in that trailer court, and watched them play ball many times- I don't know where the new prison is), the vote on the name for the remaining territory after Nunavut was established - it's true, there was a strong push to name the territory Bob, but I was partial to Restavut (none of it and rest of it), slow pitch games that started at 10pm, the float planes taking off and landing on the bay, the Gold Range bar where you would rub elbows with all echelons of society with no segregation or judgement. I could go on, but Dave writes it much better than I ever could.

2nd read

This summer I was able to visit with a few long time friends from my Yellowknife days and that got me thinking about rereading this book. Took me right back again.
As Dave says
Yellowknifers were distinct and true in all of their imperfections, and they taught a lesson one can never be too smart to learn: it’s ok to be yourself, whether anyone’s noticing or not.

[bamlinden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dave Bidini has a writing style that can just cut through your surroundings and draw you into the world he is painting. It’s probably the biggest reason why I’ve enjoyed his books in the past, and was hoping would be the case as I picked up his latest effort, Midnight Light.

I follow Dave Bidini on Twitter, casually following his efforts as he comments on journalism in Canada, the written word in general and how he focuses much of his time with his latest endeavour - the West End Phoenix, a monthly newspaper started by him, promoting the type of storytelling and journalism that is slowly drifting away. This book, Midnight Light feels like the prelude to these efforts.

I really enjoyed the “fish out of water” meets “learning more about our country” narrative that the book shares. Bidini does a nice job of painting a picture of Yellowknife (and Tuk) while introducing us to a number of people he meets along the way. We learn a lot about a number of these people - and in a few instances, the stories are not easy to hear. Bidini makes a point of not sugarcoating the lives of the locals, and I appreciated that throughout.

What I did find surprising was that there was a decent flow of story. It took a bit to get going with it, but by the 3/4 point of the book, I found myself looking forward to how things would resolve. A fortunate occurrence to have happen when writing a “fly on the wall” book.

Dave Bidini embraced the journey fully and completely and drafted a compelling book. Hey, he can write about more than just hockey and music. 😎 (although he finds a way to add a bit of that into the mix). 😜

[Dianne Everson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is probably worth 3.5 stars.
The summary at the top of the Goodreads page is accurate.
So too are many of the other reviewers comments.
Yellowknife is not a great tourist town. Seeing the humanity in its citizens is poignant, funny, and bittersweet, and most of the time interesting.
It leads the readers glad they read it, and hopefully a little less judgemental of a city that welcomes those who need a survival break from modern constraints and the constant pressure of being whom you aren’t, ambitious, uptight, and enamoured of things far from basic survival.
The book is almost a partial biography of John McFadden, the veteran Toronto crime reporter who is a colourful character in the common understanding of how a brilliant, loud alcoholic comes to almost fit in the unique city with houseboats in its bay and bored residences play bingo and drink in its noisy bars.
The chapter on a visit to Tuktoyakut is simply wonderful. The old and new worlds attempting to live together withou either being the loser. Bidini makes you understand complexities of simple answers or impressions and leaves you fond of an area the typical south Ontario reader would be welcomed to, but would not stay. Like an endangered species the people of the north are unforgettable and rough and wonderful. Let’s hope they don’t disappear under mines and water.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit that the name Dave Bidini was kind of familiar in that I might have heard it somewhere but I didn't know anything about him. I picked up this book at a library book sale because it was Canadian and it was in excellent condition. Wow - talk about making a good choice!
Dave Bidini is a musician (Rheostatics) and journalist. This book is about his time in Yellowknife where he was writing for a local paper, The Yellowknifer. I expected to read about the city and the people and I did - I just didn't expect the depth of information about Dave's co-workers, his friends, the people he met and the land up north. There are so many different tales in this book and they're tied together with his expert and heartfelt telling.
I highly recommend this book. But don't expect a travelogue type of tome. This is the people of the Yellowknife as met by Dave Bidini - warts and all (not too many warts though).

[Garry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was not bad. It talked about what it's like living in modern-day Yellowknife in the NWT from the perspective of a musician from the Rheostatics. A Southerner. An eye-opener on the plight and expense of living way up in the North close to the Arctic Circle and the troubles that come with it.

[Rielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a Yellowknifer, knowing a large portion of the people in the book and Cousin of one of the characters I very much enjoyed this book. Like I was watching a movie and it was an awesome escape. I really loved it!

[Sakura Fruit · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think I have agoraphobia, and as a person living in Canada I thought it would help my fears (if I knew more about the place I live in). I didn't realize the book would be about the far isolated northern part of Canada though, which is really far for me since I'm in the south, and in a big city. I still continued to read the book anyway.

I don't remember ever reading a book like this. After coming from a bunch of books about China with their careful and guarded words, like everyone's kinda freaked that the Chinese government was going to track people down, this whatever, disregard for the Canadian government, and fcuk this or that language was kind of a shock. It did help my agoraphobia relax a bit though. At least I don't have to be afraid to swear my head off at the Canadian government when I'm out.

The author's writing was sarcastic, and flowy sometimes. He also went into a lot of history, which seems difficult to balance with sarcasm. But he did it well. But often he still sounded like a cool kid in class who makes fun of everyone but then swags it off by kinda showing off his historical insights.

I was also a nice thing that the author, although a reporter, really tried to get in the pov of the people and community he meets, and not just talk about what he thought from the surface like a maybe biased outsider. He tried to get in with the group instead of just being a bystander. Like smoking, playing, singing, and chilling with them.

Lastly, it was interesting again that, if not more so that, I can look up the things he talked about. That's the thing with non fiction. It's real. However, I still feel surprised when I see the real photos of the mentioned things as it seems to never be the same as I had imagined from only reading. The writer has a way of making all his experiences sound like a dream, or a waking dream, or just that depressed dreamy feeling I feel when I am very tired. So then is that how he sees reality? Like a dream? Is it cause he's a writer or musician/artist? I just don't want to feel left out by my fact based observation of reality. I already have a rare personality with mental illness to boot :(

[David · Rating 3 out of 5]

Our author suddenly finds himself unencumbered with his regular Toronto newspaper job and, remembering an all-too-brief visit to Yellowknife for a literary festival, packs his bags and heads North to work at the local paper. The Yellowknifer is a slim, twice weekly rag unique in that it focuses solely on Yellowknife, no reheated stories from wire copy — also clearly an early inspiration for Bidini's The West End Phoenix a local community newspaper he would launch on his return to Toronto.

And the book is a series of dispatches that upends any notion I have of this Northern capital city and the work of small town journalism. The folks at the paper might hew to certain stereotypes - some have landed here after being kicked out of everywhere else while for others this is but a pitstop to bigger and better - but the Indigenous Dene people are armed with a steely pragmatism and the folks that call Yellowknife home ("people live here!" As the mayor famously said on TV) are ok with who they are, free from big city pretension and wide-eyed small town optimism. It's a clear-eyed rendering of a summer in Yellowknife from a consummate storyteller (and a damn fine musician - Your Tragically Hip might get all the love but Whale Music is still the best Canadian album ever)

[Benjamin Kahn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read Dave Bidini's books in the past and enjoyed them, but this one didn't do much for me. Dave Bidini's Canadian references sometimes seem like someone who hasn't kept touch with the country since he was a young man. And the whole book seems very disconnected, just a bunch of stories. Many of the stories are well worth repeating, but Bidini isn't able to put them into a workable narrative. It would be nice if there was more to the book than "I went here and talked to this person and they said this:"

I also find his style kind of off-putting. It's a combination of very formal prose, with the occasional slang thrown in. Sometimes it seems like he's trying too hard to be professional, and sometimes it seems like he's trying too hard to be colloquial. It doesn't mesh well.

I did find this book to be a big of a grind, really counting down the pages near the end until I was done. There's probably a very good narrative in there somewhere, but Bidini hasn't found a way to bring it out.

[Jane Mulkewich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to my sister Sharon for lending me her copy of this book... but unfortunately there is a glitch in the printing, so that pages 223 to 254 are repeated twice, and pages 254 to 287 are missing. Nevertheless, I was able to skip to the ending and get to the climax about a reporter in Yellowknife who was charged with obstructing police, and I won't put in any spoilers as to how it worked out. Overall a great read for anyone who is interested in learning more about life in Canada's North. I particularly enjoyed the section when Dave Bidini visited Tuktoyaktuk (near Inuvik), as I lived in Inuvik as a child, and visited Tuk. This book makes me want to visit Canada's North again!

[Gillian Burles · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I’ve lived in YK for over 30 years and in Tuktoyaktuk for a couple of summers in the mid-90’s. Not the best book about YK or the North. More of a travelogue style as he worked for a Northern paper and then met and bonded with a dysfunctional-alcoholic reporter (sounds like Bidini was drinking a lot too). He was here for a summer only (there should be a rule that if you’re going to write about the North, you should at least have to endure one of our winters!) and although he met a few of the characters that YK has to offer, he somehow managed to really not capture their flavour and quirkiness. I gave him two stars for at least trying.

[Ian Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know of Dave Bidini ever since seeing him with the Rheostatics several time in the early 1990s. Great band. I read his book about his time in the band but didn’t realize he had written more books until recently.

This book follows his time with an “old school” newspaper in Yellowknife, a newspaper that eschews social media but still puts out hard copy papers on their printing press. It’s full of colorful characters and fascinating stories about northern Canada, and very eye opening to “southerners” like me. My favorite chapter covered his visit to Tuktoyuktuk, and the resilient inhabitants there.

Highly recommended!

[David Cavaco · Rating 4 out of 5]

Toronto-based musician and journalist Dave Bidini spends a summer working at the Yellowknifer newspaper in in the Northwest Territories (NT). The terrain and climate may be daunting but this huge expanse of Canada is even more fascinating for it's natural beauty, lack of pretension and its people. Learnt so much about the Dene and Inuit cultures and the folks from the rest of Canada, and beyond that now call the area home. Maybe one day I'll have the opportunity to visit Canada's real North! Great read!

[Jacquie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first Bidini novel and I listened to it on Audible. Not only is Bidini an amazing author he is an engaging narrator reading the story exactly how it was written. I cried at numerous places in this novel because the description were so poignant and just plan beautiful. Bidini is a special person who can relate to a wide range of characters and convey their respective personalities and circumstances in a relatively unbiased way. He was always careful not to pass his own judgement on situations but judgement as conveyed through others, if at all. I admire his approach to book research through immersion and becoming part of the fabric of this society, if only for a short time.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novel has brought me nearer to northern Canada as I ever will be physically. Very interesting and informative as I was not aware of political and economic development in the north. I feel that natives in Canada are treated very poorly by rest of Canadian's and the government. There is misunderstanding, lots of assumptions and poor judgement of natives. I would recommend this book especially to Canadian public. We need to get well educated on this subject.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this before I visited Yellowknife and it was a great choice! Very easy read with lots of interesting tidbits, history, culture, humour along with the author's own personal experiences living there. The book had more of an impact on me because I actually went to Yellowknife and visited many of the places the author talks about. It's definitely worth the read even if you've never been to Yellowknife.

[Hazel · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the way that this book describes the author’s journey from a life and career in urban journalism to the unique lifestyle and journalism style of northern Canada. The story of the trial of his friend is particularly interesting given the current stories of corruption and abuse of power in so many areas of our society.

[Chris Van Dyke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty enjoyable book in general, but as a Yellowknifer there were a few too many inaccuracies and examples of "southerner patronisingly discovers that maybe the NWT isn't so bad after all" for my liking. Some good storytelling though, and overall worth a read.

[Sabrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved the stories but by halfway through what else was there to say? The author was trying to be self-deprecating but often insufferable. Worse still was the poor editing resulting in sentence fragments spoiling the readability. Could not finish.

[Anson Chappell · Rating 4 out of 5]

living in Yellowknife, it's often hard to describe this place. Dave does a great job, even though he embelishes a bit, and gets a few things wrong. Like he said, it's how he sees it. Highly recommend.

[Lulu Hennessy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a few pages every night for the last few weeks. I really enjoyed the story telling. The author has an amazing ability to paint very detailed pictures with his words. If you want to take a peek into life in Yellowknife, this story is great start!

[Lorraine · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it! Great read for anyone that has trouble differentiating Whitehorse and Yellowknife 😂. His descriptions of the people and uniqueness of the North are so vivid and real (no fluff). 4.5 stars for some inaccuracies but would recommend to anyone!

[Paul Meloon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dave Bidini’s writing style is so laid back and casual that you enter his books a stranger and exit it a friend. It’s like overhearing a conversation that impels you to listen more.

[Cathy Allan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. An absolute must read. Hilarious, touching and insightful. :)

[Amanda Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is reminiscent of the "what I did on my summer vacation" essays from grade school although this book is way more interesting than any essay of the sort I ever wrote. This is a memoir of Dave Bidini's time in Yellowknife working for the local paper. With his characteristic wit and rich description, he introduces the people he met and his experience up north, including landing on the sidelines of a court case involving one of his journalist friends. Through it all he paints the picture of a caring northern community and the importance of local journalism. It was a compelling read (or listen in my case) that makes me want to visit Yellowknife even more.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dave painted a picture of Yellowknife that is fairly bleak. That disappointed me.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely done

[John Bunge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dave Bidini's account of his experiences and impressions of life in the 'knife during a few few months in the summer of 2017. An interesting tale!

[Joan Gough · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book about a reporter who worked in Yellowknife for 5 months. A trip down memory lane for me. Loved it!