Culture in motion & talk, premiere issue 3.95 talk is about the energy of discussion. taéé captures inti- macy and depth by removing, the clutter between the read- erand the magazine. The result is a mix of fresh, engaging riffs and investiga- tive scoops on everything from news to glamour. A close-up on our culture in motion. Each month Tina Brown, the editors of talk and a diverse group of 50 readers will select the 10 most entertaining, enlighten- ing, and original new books in the talk 10. WS Biography, every life has a story $3.99 Cover story: Nicole Kidman: Cruising to the Top. She started her acting career at six, playing a sheep in a Nativity play, and never looked back. Today, Nicole Kidman is known as much for her performing prowess as for her ethereal beauty or her marriage to Tom Cruise. And what pleases her? Being called a “character actor” by Eyes Wide Shut director Stanley Kubrick. By Ivor Davis. B Channel, the best of city life $4.95 Channel is a brilliant, elegant magazine that embodies the most stylish aspects of upscale living. Ir features national celebrities at work and play with all the fashion, fun, and fanfare that surrounds them. As its cover tagline a GWYNETH GOE CEORGE SW. BETS REAL reads, Channel showcases “TheBest of City Life,” covering not just urban style, but plen- ty of substance WB Southwest Ari $5.99 Featured in this month’s special issuc on Native American Art, the top artists to watch, including the works of Eneas, Boyer and Owens. Also, the Sante Fe Indian Market Gallery show listings, with more than 1,200 native artists from 100 tribes across the U.S. — Magazine reviews every Friday from Jason Black at Global News, the Market, Park Royal South, West Vancouver; e-mail: . FANS adds new award THE first annual FANS artistic merit award will be disbursed to a North Shore artist this fall. The $1,000 cash award is an initiative ofthe North Shore Arts Commission. FANS, or Fund for the Arts on the North Shore, was established in 1995 to acknowledge the -area’s growing, arts community and to provide recognition and asitance to tented and ex ed North Shore artiss in all dis- ciplines. . the 1999 award is intended to assist an established North Shore artist in further development of specific skills in his or her chosen field. To be eligible applicants must reside on the North Shore or have the majority of their creative work take place on the North Shore. ications for the award must be received by Sept. 15. Forms can be obtained at the Nozth Shore Arts Commission, 148 E. 2nd St., North Vancouver, or by calling 980-3559. The successful applicant will be notified by Oct. 8. The FANS find is managed by the North Shore Charitable Foundation. It is an open fund to which any person may con- tribute. . BC LASER B Timbukt: by Paul Auster, Henry Holt and Company, Inc. 1999. Lisa Harrison Contributing Writer PAUL Auster, poet, and author of the acclaimed detective series, The New York Trilogy, and screenplays Smoke and Blue in the Face, chronicles the travels of Willy G. Christmas (born William Gurevitch), and his canine compan- ion Mr. Bones in his latest novel, Tembuktu. His observations, in the voice of Mr. Bones, are any- thing but a typical travelogue — they read more fike a scratch-and-sniff guide to America. The canine narration Icads to ironic perceptions of humanity including his mas- ter, who has had elec- troshock, and consumed toxic doses of “psychopharmaco- logical” and recreational drugs -—— and more than a few drinks. But Mr. Bones sees in Willy “the heart of a dog” which is surely a high compli- ment. Mr. Bones is a dog that even cat people would like — part poet, part philosopher, part victim of chance. A bittersweet story of sur- vival, a society in flux and its troubled souls, Timbuktu is, at its canine core, a very rare animal: a tale of uncondition- al love written in the stark uncompromising language of an author capable of juxta- posing cynicism and senti- ment without diminishing either. Death is a proposition Auster is never afraid to Laser Printer Friday, August 20, 1999 — North Shore News — 21 Heart of a dog make, bur instead of becom- ing the usual tragic ending, it seduces a strange redemption. Gasping for air and coughing up blood, Willy has collapsed in front of a Baltimore landmark, the Edgar Allen Poe museum. His belief that the greatest achievement of man is to “leave the world a little better than you found it” has left him mentally and physically exhausted. Mr. Bones lays his head on his stomach listening for faint breath and contemplates the sad turn of events that will change both their lives. Willy wanted to be a saint. He wanted to be immortal. While his sainthood remains questionable, he has come to Baltimore to make a final stab at immortality. They have walked from New York to find this high school English teacher, Bea Swanson. Although he hasn’t spoken to her in 17 years, Willy has deereed that she will find a way to publish his writings — 74 notebooks- worth of poetry, stories and prose including his “epic-in- progress,” Vagabond Days. Auster makes a subtle nod to Edgar Allen Poe fans by underpinning his novel with the paths, both of geography and events, taken by that dark poet. The parailels berween Willy and Poe — another vagabond at heart: slightly dysfunctional, malcontent and genius ~ are hard to miss. Poe’s education and rela- tionships were all marred by a - high blood-alcohol count. (His father cut off financial support to his son after his first year at the University of Virginia because of his gam- bling and drinking habits.) His literary career, punctuat- ed by the melancholy and macabre, which blossomed whether in spite of or because of his beginnings, came to a See Poet page 26 «| GROOVE Hip-Hop, R & B, Rap w/DJ Double D . great prices . Pr abies Night . Women only until 11:00 - Male exotic dancere hosted by Mark e@ Service On the North Shore Expert Service at your office ar ours. © HP, Okidata, IBM/Lexmark, Canon, Panasonic & most brands © We refill Ink Jet cartridges Open Mon. - Fri, 984-7661 204 Donaghy Av,, North Von Rigg EWETS RESELLER & OKIDATA HU. i § Hestauranté of C __ w/ your hosis Halr & Dew cay Po" BATTLES PLUS Tax. g ‘PER VISIT,