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SaskBooks Book Picks - 'The Eater of Dreams'

“The Eater of Dreams” Written by Kat Cameron Published by Thistledown Press Review by Shelley A. Leedahl $20.

“The Eater of Dreams”
Written by Kat Cameron
Published by Thistledown Press
Review by Shelley A. Leedahl
$20.00 ISBN 978-1-77187-184-6

Kat Cameron, a Swift Current-born poet, fiction writer, and English literature prof at Edmonton's Concordia University, has penned a place-specific collection of sometimes-linked stories with an intriguing title: The Eater of Dreams, and the 67-page eponymous story is a fascinating read, complete with a 100-year-old ghost, a grieving and disillusioned English teacher in Japan, and so many sensory-rich glimpses into Japanese culture - albeit from an outsider's perspective - readers might almost believe they are there.

The opening stories are Edmonton-based, and as a former resident of that city I enjoyed tagging along with the female protagonists to the Muttart Conservatory, Whyte Ave, and Jubilee Auditorium, even if these gals were not in the happiest moods. One was not having any fun being the sole woman in a trio at the Muttart Conservatory without a toddler, then she lost her friend's little girl among the poinsettas. Zoe lives in a university-area garret that's so cold her "breath fogged the air while she watched late-night TV, huddling under three comforters," and she's terrified an abusive ex will reappear. In a linked story, Zoe accompanies her new boyfriend to a family funeral in Calgary, and not only does she get put on the spot by being asked to sing "Amazing Grace," she forgets the words; a snowstorm forces them to turn around on the highway at the end of the miserable day; and she contends that her "problems trailed after her like plumes of car exhaust on a winter night".

Sporadic humour, cultural insights, and the wisdom the narrator gains from intensive self-study make this long story a terrific read.

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