Cigar Box Banjo
Notes on Music and Life
by Paul Quarrington
foreword by Roddy Doyle
- Winner, Alcuin Award for Best Prose Non-Fiction
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An award-winning author, musician, and screenwriter, Paul Quarrington was diagnosed with stage-four lung cancer in summer 2009. Looking death in the face, he decided to go out singing, throwing everything he had into his work and demonstrating a creative energy that belied his illness. He was recognized with the Matt Cohen Award for his distinguished body of work, performed with his band, Porkbelly Futures, and recorded two new albums.
He also finished Cigar Box Banjo, his bestselling and highly regarded memoir — reflections on his music, life, and death. The biographical documentary film Paul Quarrington: Life In Music, following the themes in Cigar Box Banjo, aired in spring 2010 on CTV Bravo.
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close this panel"""This is a rich and life-affirming story that will please avid music fans and anyone who is interested in learning about living a life of joy in the face of death."""
"""Quarrington died in the early days of 2010. It'll take years to fully appreciate his contribution. Start now, with this excellent memoir on his musical life first, his approaching death second."""
"""Quarrington died in the early days of 2010. It'll take years to fully appreciate his contribution. Start now, with this excellent memoir on his musical life first, his approaching death second."""
"""A joy to read...Cigar Box Banjo is the perfect testament to the man, and to his work. He will be missed."""
"""This is a rich and life-affirming story that will please avid music fans and anyone who is interested in learning about living a life of joy in the face of death."""
"""A joy to read...Cigar Box Banjo is the perfect testament to the man, and to his work. He will be missed."""
"""A layered, rambling, deceptively casual mixture of music history, coming-of-age narrative and reflection on mortality. """
"""It's doubtful we will see a better memoir this year than Paul Quarrington's Cigar Box Banjo...He doesn't shy away from exploring in detail his own dark journey toward death, but the path is illuminated with humour, courage, [and] generosity."""
"""It's doubtful we will see a better memoir this year than Paul Quarrington's Cigar Box Banjo...He doesn't shy away from exploring in detail his own dark journey toward death, but the path is illuminated with humour, courage, [and] generosity."""
"""A layered, rambling, deceptively casual mixture of music history, coming-of-age narrative and reflection on mortality. """
