The Garneau Block

by Todd Babiak

A local phenomenon goes national! This sparkling novel has the warmth and wide appeal of Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe and the wit of Will Ferguson.

What Alexander McCall Smith did with 44 Scotland Street , Todd Babiak does with The Garneau Block . This addictive and charming, laugh-out-loud funny novel enchanted readers when it was serialized in the Edmonton Journal in the fall of 2005 — and now, The Garneau Block makes its national debut.

The Garneau Block follows the knowable citizens of the adored and hated city of Edmonton, capturing what we connect to in local stories and what is universal about modern life. Here, in what can only be described as a storytelling tour-de-force, we meet the warm, endearing, and delightfully flawed residents of a fictional cul-de-sac in the city’s Garneau neighbourhood just after the scandalous death of a neighbour and the sudden news that their land is about to be repossessed by the university.

When mysterious signs begin to appear duct-taped to trees saying only LET’S FIX IT, the block — including a sacked university professor, a once-ambitious, knocked-up haiku expert living in her parents’ basement, an aging actor whose dreams are slipping away, and a quiet but polite stranger — is galvanized to band together in a wild attempt to save their homes. And when regular people put their dreams in motion, anything can happen — namely, political machinations, personal revelations, a public uproar, and unforeseen love.

From a young author whose name will soon be on everyone’s lips come the most lovable Canadian characters since Dave and Morley, and a page-turning-good story. Readers nationwide won’t be able to get enough of The Garneau Block .

For the next while, David talked about the merits of joining the PC party. Why fight it, really? No political organization is perfect, of course, but by giving your support to the Liberals or the New Democrats, what are you doing? Further dooming the City of Edmonton. Further empowering Calgary and the rural caucus.

“Nonsense, David,” said Abby. “That’s the sort of talk that leads to tyranny, and we’ve had plenty enough of it in this province.”

“Tyranny she says! Tyranny!” David took a few steps in Tammy’s direction, so they formed a political triangle. “No wonder the left is so flabby.”
–From The Garneau Block


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Humor, Book Club, Adult Fiction, Contemporary, Literary Fiction

424 pages, Paperback

First published August 15, 2006

About the author

When I think no one else is around, I conduct pretend orchestras.

Reviews

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're from New York or London or Paris or even Vancouver, you cannot know how marvellous it feels to have a story told about your place, the place where you live. Stories about Edmonton are rare--though slightly less so now than they were even a few years ago--there's a healthy and growing literary community here that thinks this is a place worth telling stories about. Babiak is one of those writers who tells stories about this place, and it's a treat to imagine these people moving about the same streets I move through, going to the same theatre, drinking coffee at the same shop, seeing the same view, riding the same trains. How is it that telling a fictional story about a place makes it feel more real?

[Tina · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Garneau Block by Todd Babiak

When a book has been longlisted for the Giller prize and there is a fair bit of acclaim from various sources on the inside cover “at least one laugh on every single page”, then the reader has high hopes for a great read. The fact is, the story about the Garneau neighbourhood in Edmonton and the role of the residents to save their block from being repossessed by the university is truly inventive and quirky....throw in a killing, a mysterious sign that has been posted and a host of offbeat characters to keep things lively. Besides there seems to be no political or social topic that is not up for grabs. That made for very thoughtful reading.

I admit that the strange mix of characters was very amusing:

Madison Weiss who was living in her parent’s basement

Benjamin Perlitz and his wife and daugter (neighbours), their life surrounded by mystery

Raymond Terletsky (professor on the edge) and his wife Shirley Wong

Jonas, looking for fame and love

Rajinder and Barry Strongman were my favourite characters.

I really really wanted to like this work of Canadian fiction by Todd Babiak. For me, the humour became almost annoying and that made the story drag for me. I realize that everyone has their own personal sense of humour and perhaps I need to work on mine. The Garneau Block by Todd Babiak

When a book has been longlisted for the Giller prize and there is a fair bit of acclaim from various sources on the inside cover “at least one laugh on every single page”, then the reader has high hopes for a great read. The fact is, the story about the Garneau neighbourhood in Edmonton and the role of the residents to save their block from being repossessed by the university is truly inventive and quirky....throw in a killing, a mysterious sign that has been posted and a host of offbeat characters to keep things lively. Besides there seems to be no political or social topic that is not up for grabs. That made for very thoughtful reading.

I admit that the strange mix of characters was very amusing:

Madison Weiss who was living in her parent’s basement

Benjamin Perlitz and his wife and daugter (neighbours), their life surrounded by mystery

Raymond Terletsky (professor on the edge) and his wife Shirley Wong

Jonas, looking for fame and love

Rajinder and Barry Strongman were my favourite characters.

I really really wanted to like this work of Canadian fiction by Todd Babiak. For me, the humour became almost annoying and that made the story drag for me. I realize that everyone has their own personal sense of humour and perhaps I need to work on mine. The Garneau Block by Todd Babiak

When a book has been longlisted for the Giller prize and there is a fair bit of acclaim from various sources on the inside cover “at least one laugh on every single page”, then the reader has high hopes for a great read. The fact is, the story about the Garneau neighbourhood in Edmonton and the role of the residents to save their block from being repossessed by the university is truly inventive and quirky....throw in a killing, a mysterious sign that has been posted and a host of offbeat characters to keep things lively. Besides there seems to be no political or social topic that is not up for grabs. That made for very thoughtful reading.

I admit that the strange mix of characters was very amusing:

Madison Weiss who was living in her parent’s basement

Benjamin Perlitz and his wife and daugter (neighbours), their life surrounded by mystery

Raymond Terletsky (professor on the edge) and his wife Shirley Wong

Jonas, looking for fame and love

Rajinder and Barry Strongman were my favourite characters.

I really really wanted to like this work of Canadian fiction by Todd Babiak. For me, the humour became almost annoying and that made the story drag for me. I realize that everyone has their own personal sense of humour and perhaps I need to work on mine.

[Evelyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

While it was fun to read a book set in my hometown, I have to say that the plot became more and more unbelievable as I worked through the pages. Too bad. I remember reading the first instalments as they were published in The Journal. I did not care for it then because it just seemed like an opportunity to "name drop". Now, many years later, it was fun. But I would not recommend it unless you have lived in YEG.

[Jason · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was fine. Lisa Moore provides a blurb on the back cover that says there is at least one laugh to be found on each page, but I didn't find them. It was certainly interesting to read a novel about a neighbourhood in which I spend a lot of my time, about places I go to often, but I wasn't feeling challenged or entertained by the characters or their stories.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an Edmontonian, I enjoyed the local references scattered throughout the book. The characters all seemed rather ‘dramatic ‘ in their own individual ways, so it makes sense that it’s going to be made into a play showing later on this year at the Citadel theatre. I’d like to see it actually.

And I liked the conclusion, which surprised me as I normally prefer tidier endings.

[Robynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a former local to the city and the University of Alberta area, I really enjoyed the "Edmonton-ness" of this book. There were parts, however, that were ridiculous to me at least.

[Katrina · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about Edmonton, but what a strange book!

The plot progressively got more bizarre - what a weird way to save the block. The characters were odd and their actions equally.

I also got hung up on details about the city. Walking east from Blues on Whyte? There’s nothing there!! Sugarbowl is not a coffee shop and has never been as to my knowledge! Liquor store in the Commercial Hotel? Off sales maybe but who goes there to buy their liquor? And there is no way that University students are hanging out with bikers at Blues on Whyte. The layout also didn’t always make sense around the Garneau Theatre and University. I’ve spent so much of my life around there, I found I was spending way too much time trying to see if what he was proposing was possible. I feel like normally I wouldn’t be so hung up on accuracy, but everything was so specific, my mind couldn’t stray far! Also, who parks at the Save on to Jasper and walks all the way to the Hardware Grill? No way!!

There was so much name dropping of places in Edmonton, it got ridiculous at times. But, I suppose, since it was originally published as a serial, it wasn’t so overbearing in that context.

Odd book. Enjoyable only because it was based in my city.

I just want a really well written book about Edmonton! Is that too much to ask for?

[Bev Onischak · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun read if you enjoy political satire and I do. I used to live in Garneau in the late’80s. Babiak’s descriptions of the neighbourhood and river valley brought many fond memories. It was good remember living in an old house surrounded by old trees and people of many and varied backgrounds. In the autumn the Saskatchewan River valley is truly beautiful. Thank you Helga for recommending this read.

[Emily Williams · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m not big on satire but this reminded me how funny and witty political satire can be. I love reading books set in Edmonton but Babiak does it in a way that just perfectly captures the very essence of this city and all its contradictions. Yes it’s kooky, yes it’s dramatic — but so is this place I live in. A lot has changed since this was written, but a lot still resonates strongly. And we still have the Sugar Bowl and the Next Act, so there’s that too.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a former University of Alberta student and Garneau resident, and current Alberta non-conservative, I found this book incredibly interesting, especially given the recent Alberta election. Alberta's too true stereotypes were on full display. Bravo Mr. Babiak. A well needed salve to sooth the pain of Tuesday's result.

[Trudy Roy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting characters but not a must read book. Easy to put down. Written as a newspaper serial so annoyingly short chapters. Fun to read about locations you are familiar with as its set in Edmonton.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story and the characters were decent but what I really enjoyed was that it takes place in Edmonton. It was really neat to read about Edmonton things that I’ve done, like when they would go to the SugarBowl or to the Varscona Theatre.

[Katherine Pederson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was delightful! It's always fun to read about places you have actually lived in or places you have been.

[Liz · Rating 1 out of 5]

for some reason I thought this was a short story collection? Its not, and again abut 100 pages in before I got too bored with the story to continue

[Magpie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice to read about Edmonton in a fictional setting.

However gave me a terrible craving for more emotionally repressed gay relationships based in Alberta, yike.

[Jane Van · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that it was set in Edmonton.

[Kimberley Rogers · Rating 3 out of 5]

This didn't grab me the way some of Babiak's other books have.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hardcover. I really enjoyed this. So entertaining and loved the familiar locations and the story. Really want to see the play now, which was postponed due to Covid!

[Louisa Robison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable, funny, fun to follow the streets and buildings in my mind, a taste of home. I maintain that Jonas Pond is Nathan Fillion in a different life.

[Jenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

So classically Edmonton. Full of community, determination and lousy men.

[Kimm · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was locked out of the Libby version, even though it was not a sample, so I 'finished' what I could read. Used to live near Whyte Avenue so it was interesting to me, but I didn't get very far in.

[Heather Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Simple, easy, read. I read it because I am local to the area described in the book.

[Susan]

Loved this quirky, humourous tale of the politics of a micro-community's displacement!

[Donna · Rating 2 out of 5]

meh....

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This quirky novel is chock full of Edmonton references, which only adds to its charm!

[Ronald Kelland · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to give this book a three-and-a-half star rating, but I have to choose from three or four star. It deserves better than three, but I just cannot give it a full four. The book is set on the Garneau neighborhood near the University of Alberta, an area I know well from working as a conservation historian based on the campus (but not affiliated with the university). The book captures the sense of place of Garneau and by extension the Whyte Ave/Old Strathcona area well, particularly the slightly quirky absurdity of the area and the incredible built heritage, which, just as in the novel, is in very real danger of destruction by the voracious and ever-expanding UofA. The book captures the tenor of the time it is set in, the waning years of a conservative dynasty and the height of the oil boom. It is also liberally salted with landmarks and events that any Edmontonian would readily recognize (from the Moderne-style Garneau Theater to the big-box wasteland of South Edmonton Common and the trendy Whyte Ave restaurant “The Next Act” to the great “Jack’s Grill” in its Lendrum strip mall location. I even remember going to the Edmonton Opera’s double-bill performance of “Bluebeard’s Castle” and “Ewartung” that is mentioned in one chapter). From that perspective it is great; it is always interesting to read of your own hometown in works of fiction. The sense of place evoked by the novel and the underlying absurdity of the characters and events reminded me at times of “Confederacy of Dunces” and I wonder of Todd Babiak was trying to do for Edmonton what John Kennedy Toole did for New Orleans. If so, the attempt is a valiant effort, but is not quite realized (no shame in that, few could equal Toole’s Ignatius J. Reilly). While The Garneau Block is a good, entertaining novel, I feel that it is treads the line between realism and absurdity too closely. I wanted it to go one way or the other, either be a very real tale of life in Edmonton, or go whole hog into the quirkiness of Strathcona/Garneau. The Garneau is a good book that would have been better with a firmer commitment to the absurd. However, I would recommend the book to others and I look forward to Babiak's other novels.

[Pooker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I would not call this life changing literature, but it was a thoroughly entertaining read, start to finish.

I suspect that if I lived in Edmonton, I'd have been all that more entertained. But, as it was, being a typical middle-class busy-body myself, I was happy to snicker at the inanity of this cast of characters' exploits in attempting to "Fix it".

Seems a terrible tragedy occurred at 10 Garneau in Edmonton. A man killed himself. His wife and child moved away, leaving the place empty. The neighbours on Garneau block, while tutting about the unfortunateness of such an event in their midst, remain largely self-absorbed in their own meaningless day-to-day lives, pondering the tragedy, if at all, in terms of what it will do to their own property values. Until, that is, they discover some anonymous person has tacked up flyers around their neighbourhood touting "Let's fix it." And, they find out that the University intends to expropriate the Garneau block to build a veterinary hospital.

In true Canadian style, the neighbours rally together to save their homes from the wrecking ball. How to do that? Easy! Just have it designated as an important cultural site. Yeah...something to do with buffalo! Make it a museum!

The pace and humour of the book reminded me a little of Terry Fallis's The Best Laid Plans. Thankfully, none of the folks on Garneau block has to step in dog crap to make his point. Although, there is some vomiting.

[morowa · Rating 2 out of 5]

SUMMARY:

The Garneau Block follows the knowable citizens of the adored and hated city of Edmonton, capturing what we connect to in local stories and what is universal about modern life. Here, in what can only be described as a storytelling tour-de-force, we meet the warm, endearing, and delightfully flawed residents of a fictional cul-de-sac in the city's Garneau neighbourhood just after the scandalous death of a neighbour and the sudden news that their land is about to be repossessed by the university.

When mysterious signs begin to appear duct-taped to trees saying only LET'S FIX IT, the block -- including a sacked university professor, a once-ambitious, knocked-up haiku expert living in her parents' basement, an aging actor whose dreams are slipping away, and a quiet but polite stranger -- is galvanized to band together in a wild attempt to save their homes. And when regular people put their dreams in motion, anything can happen -- namely, political machinations, personal revelations, a public uproar, and unforeseen love.

From a young author whose name will soon be on everyone's lips come the most lovable Canadian characters since Dave and Morley, and a page-turning-good story. Readers nationwide won't be able to get enough of The Garneau Block .

[Peter B · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel centers on a neighbourhood in Edmonton, and the people who inhabit four of the five houses on the street. Garneau street is an older development in the middle of prosperity and slightly lesser in tone. One house is empty because of the suicide of a man who shot himself in desperation. As the story unfolds we find a group of unlikely people who are working/or not together to save the street from demolition by the university. The characters, by and large are believeable with the exception of the rich Indian man from across the street who is a millionaire and funds all kinds of quirky arts projects including the idea of a museum to save the street. The plots are several, built around the residents, with the salvation of the street and the coming together of disparate people being the core.
One of the regional Canada Reads selections.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the book sometimes shows its roots as a newspaper serial, nonetheless it served as a nice trip into a neighborhood I lived in as an undergraduate at the University of Alberta. For me it also demonstrated the power of memory in reading. I suppose people who live in cities that are regularly featured in books, New York and LA for example, grow used to having the familiar described but for those of use who grew up and live in cities that are not the usual locales of fiction there is a special, added flavor to books such as The Garneau Block. I liked this enough to read his next book, The Book of Stanley and have his earlier novel, Choke Hold on the to-read shelf.