Great Lakes Suite: A Trip Around Lake Erie / A Trip Around Lake Huron / A Trip Around Lake Ontario

by David W. McFadden

Specially edited, updated, revised and rewritten by the author, and for the first time complete in one volume, Great Lakes Suite includes A Trip Around Lake Ontario , first published in 1988, as well as A Trip Around Lake Erie and A Trip Around Lake Huron , both of which were first published in 1980. These books have come alive in a remarkable way and have made the whole much more than merely the sum of its parts. They have become funnier, sadder, more inter-connected, more spiritual, more sure of themselves. They sparkle from beginning to end with a new depth and resonance. They represent a time that is no more, an idyllic time (so it seems now) before the differences between Canada and the U.S. became so small as to be a joke. The years since they first appeared have been kind to these books and McFadden’s extensive reworking of the texts has given them a heightened sheen.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

David William McFadden was a Canadian poet, fiction writer, and travel writer. The author of 35 books of poetry, fiction and travel writing, McFadden started publishing poetry in 1958 and has been previously shortlisted for the 2008 Griffin Poetry Prize, as well as for three Governor General's Awards. He won the 2013 Griffin Poetry Prize for his collection What's the Score?

Reviews

[Ian Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy the hearted writing style of Mc Fadden and his perspective on life and the world. Filtered through his own experiences and vivid imagination, the books are travel logs of a sort together with observations of people, places and experiences. He also brings his own background as a poet and journalist with many connections in the artistic community in Canada. I very much enjoyed all three books in this and will reread at some point in the future.

[Mirbot · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author decides to travel around each of the great lakes with his family and write about it. He and his family go around Lake Erie, then Lake Huron. Many years later he travels without his family, but with a 3 man film crew, around Lake Ontario. 'A Trip Around Lake Ontario' is definitely my favourite. McFadden has a gift for conversations and imagery. I am familiar with many of the places he traveled through, and when he writes of them, I can picture what he is writing about so clearly. I also laughed a lot. Both snickering and out loud laughing. I would have given you the Stephen Leacock Medal, David!
I first came across these books in their singular forms at the Lillian H. Smith Library in Toronto. I was researching something or other about the great lakes. And there they were. Lucky me!

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man! Having finished all three of the books in this series, I can say that it was a bit of a rollercoaster ride. Where I ended up was not anywhere near what I expected after reading the first book. The second book I found to be a bit of a disappointment, perhaps too repetitive of the first. This kind of makes sense though, when you start reading book three. All these books are kind of weird and funny, the language is wonderful and McFadden is quite the character. I want to know how much of these books are true or fiction but he doesn't want to be asked.