Story House

by Timothy Taylor

Book Overview

In his first novel, Stanley Park, Taylor brought readers into the inner workings of the Vancouver culinary scene, writing evocatively about everything from divine local ingredients to kitchen... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0676977642
• ISBN13: 9780676977646
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Knopf Canada
• Length: 452 Pages

Customer Reviews

Huff & puff, but you ain't gonna blow STORY HOUSE down, m'kay?...

As I gently placed this novel down at my bedside yesterday and sprinkled a pinch of twinkledust into my baby blues, the penultimate thought I'd had in before nodding off to Neverneverland was that rarely has a novel been as meticulously-researched as Double-T's STORY HOUSE. (I'm happy to report that I had pleasant dreams all night long, and I woke up refreshed and ready to tackle a new piece of fiction, preferrably one belonging to to this author). Oh yeah, the last thought I'd had before hitting the hay was whether I'd snugly closed my bottle of twinkledust. It's expensive, even off of eBay, and even if I pay in Canadian funds. Alright. Time for a little digression towards the specifics of this tome, folks. You've just GOT to love (said with heapful James Brown-ism) how this writer's done his homework. Gadzooks! I'm totally shocked. I mean, there's not a single t nor i--uncrossed or undotted, respectively--in this here work to be found. Not only was I entertained--yarn-like--throughout the 400 or so pages of this bookaroonie, I was also massively educated. If that doesn't garner an "edutainment" award from which Canadian Council funds that, then the category's gotta be redefined, okay? In any event, Taylor, like a Talmudist, dips into the storybook trail mix of the entire architectural field in this one, folks. Not only has he evoked a sense of drama between his four or so protags (Graham, Elliott, Esther, Avi, etc.), my babies, but he's also managed to teach you a thing or four about how to build a home. Properly. Sturdily. Differently. And punch this: several other little gemstones make an appearance inside these pages as well. Displaying a jack-of-all-trades flourish as Mr. Everyscribe, Tim Taylor unsheaths the mother of all skills in his STORY HOUSE, giving us a Pepsi-challenge-like taste test re: his bona fides on the film biz, Hollywood-style, slapdashing some TV savvy in there for good measure, even peppering us with a few on-set antics courtesy of the man called (Avi) Zweigler, ostensibly a Tamil gentleman (probably from Jaffna, or maybe he's Nigerian?), and very definitely against Tinsel Town type (tongue firmly dans la bouche here, kids). In any event, mix this with a little gun-running shtick care of younger Gordon brother Elliott, some contraband tschotchkes and assorted swag, not to mention the Kung-Fu Hustle, and you've got the makings of a Giller Prize winner here, kids. Gosh, my hands are getting all clammy just imagining shaking Governor-General Michaelle Jean's palm (gosh, Timmy, isn't she just a fox? Yum!). What you'll love about STORY HOUSE is that it's not in any way a facile read. Rarely *are* the Canadian novels I enjoy reading. Mr. Taylor combines his characteristic authorly smarts and several whopping metric *tonnes* of style in this tasteful depiction of a Jacob-ian/Esau-ian family feud about who's got their hands deeper into daddy-o's inheritance cookie jar, and what they're willing to sacrifice of themselves,