The yoga mat sticking out of your bag is cramping your style. And the barista completely butchered your chai latte again (yes, you specifically said soy milk and light on the foam).You've got some First World Problems, friend. And we feel your pain.Acclaimed activists Craig and Marc Kielburger have witnessed firsthand some of the world's most serious troubles. And now, for a dose of perspective, they've compiled a hilarious volume of complaints heard only in the developed world. For each of these trifling tribulations, the Kielburger's draw on their experience in international development and offer suggestions for small, corresponding actions that can make an actual world difference.It's a side-splitting collection guaranteed to give pause for both gratitude and laughter. With 100 percent of the proceeds going directly to the charitable work of Free The Children, complaining will never feel this good.

    This cross-cultural memoir chronicles her life-changing experiences in India and Sri Lanka, the struggle to produce the controversial Oscar®-nominated film, and the emergence of a deeper understanding between mother and daughter.This trade paperback edition features a reading group guide that includes an interview with the author and discussion questions. 16 black-and-white photos, maps.

    Simultaneously, Vintage Canada is delighted to publish Downie's first book of poetry, under the same title. It will also contain the lyrics to the sixteen songs on the record.Coke Machine Glow is a rich, haunting collection that reveals both the public and private selves of one of Canada's most enigmatic musicians. In poetry that is urban, gritty and political, as well as romantic, nostalgic and whimsical, Downie allows us a glimpse inside his world. With his acute and observing eye, he gives us snapshots of his life, both on the road and at home; he writes of loneliness and isolation; of longing and desire; of the present and the past; of dreams and nightmares; love lost and love of family. Ultimately, this book is about the distances that bridge and separate us.Layered and deceptively simple, imbued with Downie's wit, insight, anger, compassion and rock 'n'roll edge, Coke Machine Glow is a remarkable debut. With its publication, Gordon Downie becomes a part of the wonderful literary tradition of Canadian songwriters like Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell who are also poets.

    "An unflaggingly witty and often moving slice of life . . . Poor Super Man explodes on to the stage like a bold comic strip, complete with snappy captions and hard, bright, witty dialogue," writes the Edmonton Journal.

    Three men stand at the intersection of modern warfare – a murky world of fluid morality where all is not as it seems. Thrown together are Pete, a veteran ISAF intelligence officer, Ryan, a Canadian sniper, and The Ghost, a legendary mujahedeen warrior who has mysterious reappeared. Three different men, three different worlds, three different wars. Driving the high-stakes political and military gamesmanship between them is the danger-filled construction of Hyena Road, an 18-kilometre stretch of concrete through Panjwaii that international military leaders call “a dagger in the heart of the Taliban.” Hyena Road is an action-packed story of on-the-ground combat, impossible choices and the personal costs of war.

    The feature film was released in the U.S. by Quentin Tarantino.

    It's the hard that makes it great.” – Tom Hanks Tom Hanks is a much-beloved American film actor whose cheerful everyman persona made him a natural for starring roles in many popular films. He is one of the most critically acclaimed actors in Hollywood today and with good reason. Throughout the span of his successful and impressive career, Hanks has excelled in nearly every genre, heading the casts of some of the most well-received films in history. Widely regarded as one of Hollywood’s nicest actors, Hanks is known for his amiable, approachable personality and his ability to portray characters audiences can relate to and love. His characters are often immensely likeable ordinary guys. Despite the fact that he originally wanted to be an astronaut, Hanks has enjoyed great success and fulfillment as an actor. He may even have predicted his future career in film when he was just a teenager. In 1974, Hanks wrote a letter to industry big shot George Roy Hill, the Oscar-winning director of the film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969), with the hope that he might one day be “discovered.” Hanks was eighteen years old at the time and most likely wrote the letter before studying theatre at a junior college in Hayward, California. Hanks was grateful for his community college experience, describing himself as an underachieving high school student with lousy SAT scores and the junior college as one that was humble, but offered salvation and opportunity for many young men and women just like him, all with simple, hometown America roots, and a desire to do something great. In the letter, Hanks introduces himself to Hill as “a nobody.” he continues, saying that no one has ever heard of him, that his looks are not stunning, and that he can’t even grow a mustache. He outlines the details of his future discovery for Hill so that he might recognize the opportunity in the future. Toward the end, Hanks reminds Hill, “I do not want to be some big time, Hollywood superstar with girls crawling all over me, just a hometown American boy who has hit the big time, owns a Porsche, and calls Robert Redford 'Bob'." Hanks was indeed discovered, albeit not by Hill, and has enjoyed enormous success. But the part of Hanks’ prediction that has held remarkably true is that he never has strayed far from his beginnings. Hanks has indeed remained that likeable hometown boy who rubs elbows with – and, in fact, has become friends with – some of the greatest names in movie making history... Buy Now and Discover the Entertaining Story of Tom Hanks

    It encapsulates everything you need to understand French and English Canada, told with humour and love.

    As musicians across Canada prepare for the nation's biggest folk festival, held on Toronto Island, a series of events unfold that will transform the country politically, psychologically--and musically. As Bidini explores the remarkable week leading up to Mariposa, he also explores the life and times of one of the most enigmatic figures in Canadian music: Gordon Lightfoot, the reigning king of folk at the height of his career. Through a series of letters, Bidini addresses Lightfoot directly, questioning him, imagining his life, and weaving together a fascinating, highly original look at a musician at the top of his game. By the end of the week, the country is on the verge of massive change and the '72 Mariposa folk fest--complete with surprise appearances by Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, and yes, Lightfoot--is on its way to becoming legendary.

    The Governor General’s Award-winning musical documents the glorious World War I exploits of Canadian flying ace Billy Bishop.

    When a young actor from the big city lives with two aging bachelor farmers to gather stories about rural life, the farmers' lives are irrevocably altered when art attempts to imitate life and the line between truth and fiction is crossed.

    Mitchell began publishing in the 1940s and more than 300 radio scripts created for broadcast on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's national radio airwaves between 1950 and 1958, Jake and the Kid has won a special place in the mythology of the Canadian Prairies. Mitchell didn't just conjure up life in the 1940s in the fictional community of Crocus, Saskatchewan. He made Jake Trumper and the unnamed Kid a part of Canadians' lives. They could laugh at Jake's homespun thoughts on everything from "wimmin" to the Riel Rebellion of 1885 (Jake claiming that he helped take care of "Looie" Riel) to Canadian heroes like Prime Minister Sir Wilfred Laurier (better known as "Wilf" to Jake). A gentle satire pervades Mitchell's evocative recreation of small-town life as seen through the eyes of a wide-eyed little boy and the hired man who becomes his hero. The stories were compiled in book form in 1961 and won Mitchell his first Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal. They still have the magic that captured the Canadian imagination for nearly two decades. --Jeffrey Canton

    The young man is Max Braithwaite, now one of this country's most successful authors and freelance writers. The story he has to tell is riotous, grim, candid and infinitely entertaining. This is a Braithwaite at his vintage best and the humor that earned him the 1972 Leacock Memorial Metal is here in rich abundance. Here, too, is the de-humanizing desolation of the "Dirty Thirties" on the Saskatchewan Praries, the ordeal of youth among a populace bereft of pity and charity, and the human compassion that adds warmth and poignancy to Braithwaite's recollections.

    He touches on the changes time has brought about in the city, education, and work habits. Among the other topics in this work are nature, fishing, gardening, success, and spirits--both of the departed and of the variety Prohibition prohibited.Each chapter of this book is a standalone story and if you love a good laugh, these stories are for you. In me, Leacock’s wit produced the full range of laughter: smiles, chuckles, guffaws, and some uncontrollable giggles. Also, occasionally, I found myself shedding a tear or two.Summary by Debra Lynn

    Based on a real-life character, More Joy in Heaven is a gripping account of the tragic plight of young Kip Caley, a notorious bank-robber released early from prison and feted by society as a returning prodigal son.Earnest, optimistic, and fired by reformist zeal, Kip eventually comes to realize that the welcome of his supporters is superficial and that their charity is driven by self-interest.More Joy in Heaven was first published in 1937.