Anyone who ever saw one of W.O. Mitchell’s readings will know why they were described as unforgettable. Unruly white hair flying, fist raised, voice husky or thundering, eyes wide in innocent astonishment at a double entendre raising a laugh, W.O. Mitchell did not give readings from his work; he performed them. He loved “the immediate thrust of a live audience as it responds to story magic,” and audiences loved him. Recorded live at the Stratford Festival, Trent University, and the Banff Centre for the Arts, selections include The Day I Spoke for Mister Lincoln, How to Fail at Public Speaking, Old Kacky and the Vanishing Point, Take Once Giant Step and Melvin Arbuckle’s First Course in Shock Therapy.
W.O. Mitchells critically acclaimed novel, The Kite, is a humorous yet touching story of a journalists worst nightmare. Set in the Prairie backwater of Shelby, Alberta, seasoned reporter and minor television celebrity David Lang arrives to write a magazine feature on the towns oldest living citizen, the 111-year-old curmudgeon Daddy Sherry. Still recovering from the disappointments of a fatherless childhood, the uptight David just wants to file his story as quickly as possible and hightail it back to Toronto. But he hasnt reckoned on the cantankerous cunning of Daddy Sherry. As David chases his recalcitrant subject all over town, he begins to understand the meaning of life and finds love and happiness for the first time. This new edition of The Kite coincided with the publication of a newly discovered and never-before-published edition of the novel in audio format, featuring Mitchells own reading. It also introduces a whole new generation of readers to the rampaging Daddy Sherry, a holy terror whom Margaret Laurence considered to be Mitchells best and most complete character.
