Recommended Age, Grade, and Reading Levels
- Age: 14
- Grade: 9
Description
Those who have been following Arthur Black's award-winning publishing ventures over the past few years, or remember him from his long-running CBC radio show, Basic Black, will have come to appreciate the hilarious and unique vision of the world through the eyes of Canada's Blackest humourist. No less hilarious is his newest collection of observations and manifestos entitled Black is the New Green.
Black's eye for the absurd is in full focus here. For instance, despite the engaging getup and provocative title, few of these stories actually have anything to do with the environment. Sure, Black offers some words of advice on eating a teaspoonful a day of good healthy soil for longevity and explores the trend towards uber-expensive high fashion grocery bags. However, this is not a tome about carbon footprints besmirching our melting ice caps. Giant hamburgers, on the other hand, are covered herein. You'll also find all you could ever want to know about men's purses, how a chicken upstaged Columbus, social suicide by motor scooter--there's even a sprinkling of flowered urinals--but precious little to make David Suzuki's aorta do backflips. But then, for sheer entertainment value, environmentalism doesn't hold an organic soy candle to a good Arthur Black-ism.
If you're looking for a hearty helping of old-fashioned storytelling exploring Black's trademark territory of the curious and the strange, the twisted and the tainted, look no further than Black is The New Green.
About the author
Arthur Black's growing collection of award-winning books include Pitch Black, Black Tie and Tales (Stoddart Publishing) and Black in the Saddle Again, all of which won him the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour. He hosted CBC Radio One's Basic Black program from 1983 until 2002, while also using his comedic talents to host Life Television Network's Weird Homes and Weird Wheels. His recently released audio CD, Planet Salt Spring, features tales from his adopted home of Salt Spring Island, BC Canada.
Librarian Reviews
Black is the New Green
Arthur Black’s new book is a further compilation of his weekly newspaper columns. As he says, “no matter what happens I can usually turn it into a 750-word Op Ed piece that runs in the paper the next day.” This collection is proof of that. Black pokes fun at any thing that comes into his purview from the Sarnia airport to a Victoria taxi, from Kevlar sweaters to Tilley vests, from scooters to push mowers. He has a fine eye for the absurd and his humour is often self-deprecating but the book has little to do with environmentalism despite its title and provocative cover photograph.Black is a three-time winner of the Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humour.
Source: The Association of Book Publishers of BC. BC Books for BC Schools. 2010-2011.
