The Desire of Every Living Thing: A Memoir

by Don Gillmor

At the age of eighty, Don Gillmor's grandmother let slip the defining secret of her her twin sister Jean was not her twin, but her aunt, and her family had emigrated from Scotland to Winnipeg to escape the stigma of her illegitimacy. That revelation set Gillmor off on what seemed at first like the most personal of to track down his ancestors. The Desire of Every Living Thing is also the story of the New World, the story of Winnipeg, the story of this country. Both an evocative family memoir and a brilliant feat of historical imagination, the book's most moving theme is how the discarded past haunts and shapes our lives without us even noticing.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Author and journalist Don Gillmor was born in Fort Frances, Ontario in 1959 and presently lives in Toronto, Ontario. Don possesses a Bachelor of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Calgary. He has worked for publisher John Wiley & Sons, and has written for a number of magazines including Rolling Stone, GQ, Premiere, and Saturday Night.; where he was made a contributing editor in 1989.

Reviews

[Lise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this book at my favourite used bookstore in Richmond Hill (Covernotes) and bought it because of the family secret premise. Little did I know that I would relate to the parts about Winnipeg so much. I now wonder which house on Windermere and Somerville I walked by every day to catch the bus on Pembina were the homes of Don Gillmor's family. Very well written. Loved the reference to tourism as the story we tell when company comes.

[Boni · Rating 4 out of 5]

How unfair! Pulling me into a story by writing about one's childhood city, evoking warm feelings and memorable haunts, some of which I have probably never been too, but allowing me to romanticize my youth and the amazing city of Winnipeg. If you ever happen to wander upon a book that outlines the history of your hometown, I can guarantee you won't put it down. (Learned so much, smiled so much ;o) Lots more than just history in this book... the tribulations of getting old, immigrant experiences, growing up, politics I never cared about while growing up, city characteristics that I could never adequately describe, western culture and ambience... just LOVED this book!

[Never Has Enough Books · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was interested in this story because of the premise of “family secrets”...there was next to no mention about it! It wasn’t explored, it wasn’t a scandal and it wasn’t interesting.

It was a personal history of this family and although it had some points that captured my attention, I really skimmed over the majority of of the book. I am a history lover, history major and history teacher...but a lot of this history was downright boring.

I really wish it had explored more about the relationships between the family members and more about this “secret” that wasn’t a big deal!