I was a teenage Katima-victim: A Canadian odyssey

by Will Ferguson

JUST LIKE NEW, IT HAS NO MARKS, NO HIGHLIGHTED BOTH OUTSIDE COVER LOOKS GREAT IT HAS NO TEAR NO WEAR OUT

Genres: Canada, Nonfiction, Memoir, Travel, Humor, Autobiography

259 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Will Ferguson is an award-winning travel writer and novelist. His last work of fiction, 419, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize. He has won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour a record-tying three times and has been nominated for both the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. His new novel, The Shoe on the Roof, will be released October 17, 2017. Visit him at WillFerguson.ca

Ferguson studied film production and screenwriting at York University in Toronto, graduating with a B.F.A. in 1990. He joined the Japan Exchange Teachers Programme (JET) soon after and spent five years in Asia. He married his wife Terumi in Kumamoto, Japan, in 1995. They now live in Calgary with their two sons. After coming back from Japan he experienced a reverse culture shock, which became the basis for his first book Why I Hate Canadians. With his brother, Ian Ferguson, he wrote the bestselling sequel How to be a Canadian. Ferguson details his experiences hitchhiking across Japan in Hokkaido Highway Blues (later retitled Hitching Rides with Buddha), his travels across Canada in Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw, and a journey through central Africa in Road Trip Rwanda. His debut novel, Happiness, was sold into 23 languages around the world. He has written for The New York Times, Esquire UK, and Canadian Geographic magazine.

Reviews

[Aisling · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must have for anybody who has participated in Katimavik, or is thinking about it. Sadly, it is now out of print, which to me, makes my copy that much more important and valuable.

I first read this book before participating in Katimavik (but after I'd been accepted) and I absolutely loved it. Of course, the program in the 80s was a bit different than it was when I participated in the 2000s, but the backbone and soul of the program was all there. This book cemented my desire to participate, and I would often read through it when the excitement of my impending departure was too much to bear.

Quite surprisingly, the book had A LOT of similarities to my actual experience, including the order of placements (I started in the same city, Kelowna, BC, before moving on to Ontario and Quebec). Re-reading the book while in the program, I was literally able to live the first section of the book in Kelowna, although the city had grown a bit since the author had lived there. It was like stepping into a favourite book. I could also see my group mates and project leaders in the characters and recognize the little things that someone who wasn't in the program just wouldn't "get." Soon my group mates all wanted to read it, and we laughed over the similarities and discussed the differences.

Now that I've been an alumni of the program for nearly 5 years, I use this book as a way to reflect on it all: my expectations, my experience and my life following this amazing opportunity that I had (which I am still gushing about half a decade later!). The program has changed a lot in the last few years, and I feel this book serves as a reminder of "the good old days," which is another reason I'm bummed that it is out of print. I believe if Canadian politicians could hear this story, my story and the story of the thousands of young people who grew into amazing adults because of Katimavik, the program could thrive once more and return to these incredible roots where anybody can take off and travel and learn about themselves and others without having to pay hefty fees and go through lengthy application processes.

Will Ferguson truly captures the spirit of what it means to be a young person looking for adventure and a place to belong in this vast country and I thank him so much for it.

[Victoria Yang · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me a glimpse of Katimavik⁠—a quintessential Canadian national youth leadership program⁠—in its 1980's heyday, when 5000+ youth were sent to 1400 communities across Canada to volunteer. My Katimavik experience last year (following its 2nd cancellation in 2012) had a mere 66 volunteers active in 6 communities, and my particular group consisted of mostly participants in their 20's, as opposed to the teenagers of this book. Nevertheless, there are a remarkable amount of similarities between the author's experience and mine, captured in this genuinely funny and unexpectedly emotional account.

When I tell people about Katimavik, it's hard to capture the full experience of the program. When I did Katimavik, I often felt like I was in a reality television show: some days were incredible, others were difficult, all were surreal and strange. My housemates came from all parts of the country with wildly different cultural and linguistic backgrounds; we lived together in close quarters; we were embedded within hyper-local community dynamics, and our sole purpose for six months was to grow and give and become better people. It's a gift to have your life configured like that⁠—to have the opportunity to juxtapose everything you've ever taken for granted with the realities of other Canadians, to find common ground, and to admit that you know nothing about others' lived experiences.

This comedic memoir written by celebrated Canadian travel writer Will Ferguson did a great job of conveying the spirit of the program. I'm not sure how readable this is for non-participants, but to anyone who's experienced Katimavik, I'd wholeheartedly recommend it.

[Megan Baxter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember when this book was all over the place in the bookstore at which I used to work. (Possibly since it was shelved in the humour section, and that was the section that bred a certain kind of situational dread. Many humour books are big and floppy, and prone to falling on your head as you adjust other books on the shelf. I developed a strong flinching instinct in that section. It did not save my poor head.

Note: The rest of this review has been withheld due to the changes in Goodreads policy and enforcement. You can read why I came to this decision here.

In the meantime, you can read the entire review at Smorgasbook

[Thomas J · Rating 4 out of 5]

For any readers outside Canada, Katimivik was a federal government funded work program for kids age 17 to 21, that operated for several years from about 1979 to 1986. The idea was to assemble groups of kids, I'm not sure how many - maybe 6 to 10, half and half male and female, and also both Anglo and Francophones. And from all over the country. These groups would live in shared accommodation and do community service work; three three month stints in various locations across the country. They built playgrounds, repaired houses, cleared land, assisted in care homes etc. They were paid a dollar a day and if they completed the nine months they received a cheque for $1,000. One of my sisters was a Katimivik participant, and another sister was a group leader. Hence my interest in the book.

And I enjoy Will Ferguson's writing - very "Bill Bryson". His Katimivik experiences were in Kelowna (British Columbia), St. Thomas Ontario (famous for being the place where Jumbo the Elephant died), and St. Canut, Quebec. While I'm sure he exaggerates a bit, and some of the similes are a bit forced, some of the anecdotes are laugh out loud hilarious. And, in the case of work at a couple of care facilities in St. Thomas, poignant. The latter especially since I'm not sure that I'm too many years away from that particular situation.

I'm not covering much of the book here, but it's an easy read, although probably a bit hard to find outside Canada. One thing I noticed was what I call a Forrest Gump moment (but Ferguson doesn't); I'm thinking of the point in the movie where Forrest runs back and forth across the US for 3 years, accidentally picking up an entourage, and then suddenly decides he's had enough and announcing that he's quitting. One of his followers says ,"What are we supposed to do?". The end of a Katimivik placement seemed a lot like that. They finished their nine months, were handed cheques ("checks" for our US readers) for $1,000 and a ticket home and were faced with "Now what?". Just an observation - hope i didn't spoil the movie for anyone.

Interesting book about a bunch of 20 year olds living together for 9 months. Enjoy. T

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a fun read that had me at times laughing aloud. It's clearly a book by a young author still looking for his voice but in terms of the content that works too. Occasionally a bit raw and other times a bit crass it does reflect the young adult experience. Occasionally unfortunate in playing up the and blaming the "two solitudes" in experiences with French culture rather than accepting in the same manner as he does for Acadian culture. All in all, a fun and quick read and the further I got into it, the more I wanted to continue.

[Kerri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I personally LOVED this book. It got beautiful on page 146 and laughed myself to tears in other spots!

I gave it a 3 star rating, however, because unless you've BEEN on Katimavik (or Canada World Youth)... I believe that the nostalgia of having lived an experience like this makes the book sweet.

[Curmudgeonlybumbly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is much much better than the cover would lead you to believe. A fun Canadian tale. I particularly liked the bilingual jokes, but all in all, a little fluffy.

[Haliation · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read for any recovering Katima-victim.

[Leah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I can't believe this book is out of print! My grandmother gave it to me a long time ago and it is still the funniest book I've ever read.