Playing Dead: A Contemplation Concerning the Arctic

by Rudy Wiebe

This new edition, by two-time Governor General's Award-winner Rudy Wiebe, is the first book in NeWest's 'Landmark Editions' Series. First released in 1989, this collection won the Alberta Culture Non-Fiction Award. These essays take a critical look at history, mystery and spirituality of a region that Wiebe would have us see as a vital aspect of Canadianism.

Genres: Nonfiction

123 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Wiebe was born at Speedwell, near Fairholme, Saskatchewan in what would later become his family’s chicken barn. For thirteen years he lived in an isolated Mennonite community of about 250 people. He did not speak English until age six since Mennonites at that time customarily spoke Low German at home and standard German at Church. He attended the small school three miles from his farm and the Speedwell Mennonite Brethren Church.

He received his B.A. in 1956 from the University of Alberta and then studied at the University of Tübingen in West Germany. In 1958 he married Tena Isaak, with whom he had two children.

He is deeply committed to the literary culture of Canada and has shown a particular interest in the traditions and struggles of people in the Prairie provinces, both whites and Aboriginals.

Wiebe won the Governor General's Award for Fiction twice, for The Temptations of Big Bear (1973) and A Discovery of Strangers (1994). He was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Lorne Pierce Medal in 1986. In 2000 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Reviews

[Luce Cronin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great book! Wiebe, as usual, does more than describe; he really engages you in his stories. A keeper that i will re-read.