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Adventures in Solitude: What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck and Other Stories from Desolation Sound, Abridged
From Captain George Vancouver to Muriel " Curve of Time " Blanchet to Jim " Spilsbury's Coast " Spilsbury, visitors to Desolation Sound have left behind a trail of books endowing the area with a romantic aura that helps to make it British Columbia's most popular marine park. In this hilarious and captivating book, CBC personality Grant Lawrence adds a whole new chapter to the saga of this storied piece of BC coastline.
Young Grant's father bought a piece of land next to the park in the 1970s, just in time to encounter the gun-toting cougar lady, left-over hippies, outlaw bikers and an assortment of other characters. In those years Desolation Sound was a place where going to the neighbours' potluck meant being met with hugs from portly naked hippies and where Russell the Hermit's school of life (boating, fishing, and rock 'n' roll) was Grant's personal Enlightenment--an influence that would take him away from the coast to a life of music and journalism and eventually back again.
With rock band buddies and a few cases of beer in tow, an older, cooler Grant returns to regale us with tales of "going bush," the tempting dilemma of finding an unguarded grow-op, and his awkward struggle to convince a couple of visiting kayakers that he's a legit CBC radio host while sporting a wild beard and body wounds and gesticulating with a machete. With plenty of laugh-out-loud humour and inspired reverence, Adventures in Solitude delights us with the unique history of a place and the growth of a young man amidst the magic of Desolation Sound.
Young Grant's father bought a piece of land next to the park in the 1970s, just in time to encounter the gun-toting cougar lady, left-over hippies, outlaw bikers and an assortment of other characters. In those years Desolation Sound was a place where going to the neighbours' potluck meant being met with hugs from portly naked hippies and where Russell the Hermit's school of life (boating, fishing, and rock 'n' roll) was Grant's personal Enlightenment--an influence that would take him away from the coast to a life of music and journalism and eventually back again.
With rock band buddies and a few cases of beer in tow, an older, cooler Grant returns to regale us with tales of "going bush," the tempting dilemma of finding an unguarded grow-op, and his awkward struggle to convince a couple of visiting kayakers that he's a legit CBC radio host while sporting a wild beard and body wounds and gesticulating with a machete. With plenty of laugh-out-loud humour and inspired reverence, Adventures in Solitude delights us with the unique history of a place and the growth of a young man amidst the magic of Desolation Sound.
288 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 129 reviews
November 14, 2011
I enjoyed the first half of this book very much. The author describes Desolation Sound, its exploration by Captain George Vancouver, and the colourful characters who first settled the area with great humour. Lawrence became familiar with the area as a child when his father developed a piece of land for holiday cottages, and then returned as an adult, bringing with him many of his friends.
It was at this point in the book that I found the narrative rather irritating. There were some accounts of idyllic moment but they are overshadowed by rather too many stories of drunken parties, loud music and irresponsible behaviour so that I started to think that he had found a paradise and made it into a kind of hell for his neighbours. I also expected to read more about maintaining the environment but apart from a concern for the oil slick that might reach his particular stretch of water when a boat blows up on the Sound, there is little "green" in this book...in fact I started to wonder just how many beer cans he had his friends had left to litter this particular corner of the world.
It was at this point in the book that I found the narrative rather irritating. There were some accounts of idyllic moment but they are overshadowed by rather too many stories of drunken parties, loud music and irresponsible behaviour so that I started to think that he had found a paradise and made it into a kind of hell for his neighbours. I also expected to read more about maintaining the environment but apart from a concern for the oil slick that might reach his particular stretch of water when a boat blows up on the Sound, there is little "green" in this book...in fact I started to wonder just how many beer cans he had his friends had left to litter this particular corner of the world.
April 5, 2016
So so so good. I always forget how much I love biographies, especially nature-related ones. This had me laughing every few pages and making me want to buy a cabin and a boat.
December 1, 2017
This was great fun, even more so because I grew up at the south end of the area in question and everything he talks about was familiar to me. Except the drinking. Somehow I don't think there was quite as much of that as he lets on. It does lubricate the narration so that events flow nicely into each other. When people are writing about their own lives, though, they should be careful about the use of the words "for many years" or "for years and years" unless they are looking back from 90 years of living because most things don't go on for years and years; it only seems like it.
The most vivid moment for me was the description of pulling up the prawn trap to find an octopus glaring out of it. The octopus is loosed into the boat, whereupon Grant heads for one end while the octopus heads for the other, picking up a wrench and Grant's fish knife on the way. "It looked as if he were arming himself and he still had 6 more arms."
He quotes Capt. Vancouver who named Desolation Sound and had a thoroughly unpleasant time while there. In an area of plentiful food he couldn't find any through misadventure and ignorance and the weather was continuously bad with rain, wind and cold. I have to agree that up in that part of the BC geography it is not recommended that you spend the winter in a lonely cabin. You risk "cabin fever" or "going bush" which can result in massive depression that leads to suicide. He describes a man who became so disconsolate that he set fire to his cabin and shot himself. Winter can be truly desolate but a sunny summer day is hard to beat. The fishing is good, lots of places to dive, wilderness all about and great neighbours if you know how to cultivate them.
A truly enjoyable book that I would put up there with H. Wylie Blanchet's "Curve of Time" about her summer travels through the same area with her 4 kids and dog in a very small boat during the 20s and 30s.
The most vivid moment for me was the description of pulling up the prawn trap to find an octopus glaring out of it. The octopus is loosed into the boat, whereupon Grant heads for one end while the octopus heads for the other, picking up a wrench and Grant's fish knife on the way. "It looked as if he were arming himself and he still had 6 more arms."
He quotes Capt. Vancouver who named Desolation Sound and had a thoroughly unpleasant time while there. In an area of plentiful food he couldn't find any through misadventure and ignorance and the weather was continuously bad with rain, wind and cold. I have to agree that up in that part of the BC geography it is not recommended that you spend the winter in a lonely cabin. You risk "cabin fever" or "going bush" which can result in massive depression that leads to suicide. He describes a man who became so disconsolate that he set fire to his cabin and shot himself. Winter can be truly desolate but a sunny summer day is hard to beat. The fishing is good, lots of places to dive, wilderness all about and great neighbours if you know how to cultivate them.
A truly enjoyable book that I would put up there with H. Wylie Blanchet's "Curve of Time" about her summer travels through the same area with her 4 kids and dog in a very small boat during the 20s and 30s.
October 6, 2022
Let me preface this review with a “I absolutely loved this book but I’m not sure you will”.
As someone who has had the pleasure of exploring Desolation Sound and the surrounding area by kayak on more than one occasion, this was a perfectly relevant read for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Not only is it well written and hilarious, it’s full of interesting historical and modern information about this part of BC. I’ve never laughed so much while reading a book and at one point I had to read an entire passage out loud to my husband while we were both tearing up with laughter. If you’re not familiar with BC then this book is probably too niche for you. If you’re from the BC Coast but have not visited this particular area, I still think you would enjoy reading this book, but it might not land in the same way that it did for me. Either way, I recommend firstly making a trip to Desolation Sound and then picking up this book. You won’t regret it!
As someone who has had the pleasure of exploring Desolation Sound and the surrounding area by kayak on more than one occasion, this was a perfectly relevant read for me. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish. Not only is it well written and hilarious, it’s full of interesting historical and modern information about this part of BC. I’ve never laughed so much while reading a book and at one point I had to read an entire passage out loud to my husband while we were both tearing up with laughter. If you’re not familiar with BC then this book is probably too niche for you. If you’re from the BC Coast but have not visited this particular area, I still think you would enjoy reading this book, but it might not land in the same way that it did for me. Either way, I recommend firstly making a trip to Desolation Sound and then picking up this book. You won’t regret it!
August 27, 2014
This book was funny! One of those rare books where the stories went from mental chuckles to laugh-out-loud (LOL) laughs. The few paragraphs about mullet clad Terry in his jean shorts (jorts), smoke in mouth, tubing behind the motor boat was so funny I reread the page four times, cracking up each time. The countless hilarious stories set a good natured tone throughout the book, but, there was so much more beyond the laughs. There was a much deeper story about Grant's life and the many changes he goes through. There is also a lot of history about the area (Desolation sound on the BC coast) expertly thrown in, used to enhance many of the stories Grant tells. There were also many touching parts where Grant removes his comedic facade and describes the natural beauty around him.
The book is centred around the the Lawrence family cabin. Grant's father, the outdoorsy type, buys a large tract of BC coastline with the intentions of developing it by building a bunch of cottages. The crazy part is that this land is located well beyond any road and is only accessible by boat. Saying it is remote is a bit of an understatement. Even with these formidable obstacles Grant's father manages to sell some cottages and build a cottage for the family as well. The first half of the book is a reaccount of Grant's childhood memories of the place. Grant was a self described 'nerd' without any interest in the outdoors. So, it is mostly made up of fish out of water stories as Grant encounters nature, the odd ball mountainmen, and hippies in the commune nearby. The first few trips up to the cabin are chock full of culture shock for Grant - which makes for great reading. At some points I found myself with the mixed feeling of laughing and pitying this poor 'nerd'. Luckily Grant makes it clear he is laughing at himself too as he looks back.
The book is divided into two parts. The second part is the adult life of Grant. In his young adult life Grant rebels against his family; stops going to the camp, tours the country with his rock band and lives the whole rocker lifestyle. For years he is absent from the cabin and Desolation Sound. After his band breaks up Grant finally concedes to a trip up to the Sound. This trip brings about a huge change, refilling Grant's soul and bringing him back to his roots (which he'd been trying to cut for years). Trips to the cabin became more frequent until he was pretty much living there for most of the year. It was inspiring to read Grant's remarks about the change the cabin was making on him. He went from cynical sounding ex-rocker to a self confident genuinely happy outdoorsman. This part two of the book accentuated his new found appreciation for the area and the lifestyle he had ridiculed for years. The stories in the second part change, focusing on the eccentric behaviours of the locals, the history of the area, and Grant's maturity. Strangely, I found the second part of this book better than the first; with much higher highs and lower lows. The stories had a different feel. They were just more raw. The funny parts were a bit cruder. The introspective parts laid it all out there and were borderline emotional.
The whole book ends wonderfully with Grant triumphing on life and all ending well.
Throughout the reading of the book I felt like I was actually on these journeys to the cabin. I'm not sure if it because of my own desire to own a remote cottage of my own. I'm betting, though, that it is mostly due to the fabulous writing of Grant Lawrence.
http://bookwormsfeastofbooks.blogspot...
The book is centred around the the Lawrence family cabin. Grant's father, the outdoorsy type, buys a large tract of BC coastline with the intentions of developing it by building a bunch of cottages. The crazy part is that this land is located well beyond any road and is only accessible by boat. Saying it is remote is a bit of an understatement. Even with these formidable obstacles Grant's father manages to sell some cottages and build a cottage for the family as well. The first half of the book is a reaccount of Grant's childhood memories of the place. Grant was a self described 'nerd' without any interest in the outdoors. So, it is mostly made up of fish out of water stories as Grant encounters nature, the odd ball mountainmen, and hippies in the commune nearby. The first few trips up to the cabin are chock full of culture shock for Grant - which makes for great reading. At some points I found myself with the mixed feeling of laughing and pitying this poor 'nerd'. Luckily Grant makes it clear he is laughing at himself too as he looks back.
The book is divided into two parts. The second part is the adult life of Grant. In his young adult life Grant rebels against his family; stops going to the camp, tours the country with his rock band and lives the whole rocker lifestyle. For years he is absent from the cabin and Desolation Sound. After his band breaks up Grant finally concedes to a trip up to the Sound. This trip brings about a huge change, refilling Grant's soul and bringing him back to his roots (which he'd been trying to cut for years). Trips to the cabin became more frequent until he was pretty much living there for most of the year. It was inspiring to read Grant's remarks about the change the cabin was making on him. He went from cynical sounding ex-rocker to a self confident genuinely happy outdoorsman. This part two of the book accentuated his new found appreciation for the area and the lifestyle he had ridiculed for years. The stories in the second part change, focusing on the eccentric behaviours of the locals, the history of the area, and Grant's maturity. Strangely, I found the second part of this book better than the first; with much higher highs and lower lows. The stories had a different feel. They were just more raw. The funny parts were a bit cruder. The introspective parts laid it all out there and were borderline emotional.
The whole book ends wonderfully with Grant triumphing on life and all ending well.
Throughout the reading of the book I felt like I was actually on these journeys to the cabin. I'm not sure if it because of my own desire to own a remote cottage of my own. I'm betting, though, that it is mostly due to the fabulous writing of Grant Lawrence.
http://bookwormsfeastofbooks.blogspot...
February 24, 2011
I'm giving this book 5 stars because I enjoyed it whole-heartedly from beginning to end. It's not an incredible story, nor is the writing divine. However, I devoured it in about 5 days, laughed out loud to the point of embarrassment on public transit, and then proceeded to try to convince everyone I know to pick up a copy. It's a wonderful light read, ideal for summer afternoons at the beach when you're too sun-drunk to really focus, or winter evenings curled up in a cozy chair with an old crocheted throw blanket. Highly recommended to anyone who grew up on the west coast of Canada, anyone who has ever enjoyed summers by the sea, anyone who has ever wanted to throw caution to the wind and leave the city behind, anyone who listens to CBC Radio with national pride and devotion, or anyone who just enjoys laughing till it hurts.
August 7, 2012
Started reading this book as I waited for a ferry and was immediately smitten by the author's observation that the designer of the the ferry terminals must also have designed concentration camps!
We were in the terminal for 4 hours (no reservation -- what were we thinking!!) and this book kept me totally occupied for the wait & the subsequent ferry ride. I just kept reading until I was finished.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book and am not sure if my dissatisfaction with the second was just reader fatigue. But I felt that the author's attitude changed from glorious self deprecation to annoyingly smug.
But since it kept me happy on the ferry trip so it still gets 5 stars from me.
We were in the terminal for 4 hours (no reservation -- what were we thinking!!) and this book kept me totally occupied for the wait & the subsequent ferry ride. I just kept reading until I was finished.
I really enjoyed the first half of the book and am not sure if my dissatisfaction with the second was just reader fatigue. But I felt that the author's attitude changed from glorious self deprecation to annoyingly smug.
But since it kept me happy on the ferry trip so it still gets 5 stars from me.
August 11, 2015
I received this book from my BC niece in June and only got around to reading it now - am I ever glad I did! Grant Lawrence is apparently a CBC personality - he has also fronted an alt music band in addition to being an author. This book recalls his childhood and teenage years spending his summers in Desolation Sound with a father who was determined to get back to the land and live simply with other dropouts from the hippie era. Grant describes himself as a book loving nerd in coke bottle glasses who came to detest the annual trek, only to find himself drawn there yearly as an adult.
There are hilarious stories in the book including "What Not to Wear to a Nude Potluck" as well as tales of neighbours "going bush" from being in the wild too long.
A great read for a summer's day!
January 22, 2016
This is a fantastic book, full of first-hand experiences and historical information about Desolation Sound, one of my favorite places in the world. The hilarious, often wry observations are so entertaining, but there's also a lot of love and appreciation woven through.
I loved the descriptions of the people and the place itself, but also the general attitude and vibe which is difficult to express to anyone who hasn't grown up in a coastal BC area. It's the strange, disparate mix of people banding together in a shared connection that make the most unique communities I've found in any of my wandering!
It brought me feelings of nostalgia combined with a fierce desire to return as soon as possible. Highly recommend!
I loved the descriptions of the people and the place itself, but also the general attitude and vibe which is difficult to express to anyone who hasn't grown up in a coastal BC area. It's the strange, disparate mix of people banding together in a shared connection that make the most unique communities I've found in any of my wandering!
It brought me feelings of nostalgia combined with a fierce desire to return as soon as possible. Highly recommend!
January 27, 2011
I have to clarify--this was not a bad book, just not what I expected and not completely interesting to me. Also, I was desperate to read a new book that came in the mail, so finishing this seemed a bit like a chore! I expected this book to be funnier, based on what I had heard about it, but it was more on the pensive side. For those looking for a historical and personal profile of a unique piece of Canadian wilderness, this would be a good pick.
June 22, 2015
Maybe I'm too emotional on Father's Day but what Grant Lawrence writes about in this book is what I think everyone would line in their life whether they know it or not. I'm not particularly prone to expletives but Grant Lawrence is a lucky guy to have found something so awesome, and not always easy, in life and to be able to express it so well. I think it was Bernard the German who said "This is fucking awesome."
October 12, 2015
A romping fun read, especially if you have traveled to the Pacific North West of Canada. Highly enjoyable, especially if read on a sunny day on the deck of a British Columbian ferry ride going to Vancouver Island!
January 15, 2011
Hilarious. I also learned about a part of the BC landscape that I wasn't familiar with. Desolation Sound is a unique place.
April 1, 2013
Absolutely hilarious, with the added bonus that I learned a lot about a beautiful part of the province I live in! Recommended to anyone in need of a few belly laughs.
May 31, 2016
Laugh out loud funny! Wonderful stories about a remarkable melting pot in BC. Having said that, Grant Lawrence is one of the last people I'd want to meet on a kayak trip in Desolation Sound.
July 29, 2017
This is a perfect summer read - well written, funny, engaging, and chock full of great stories. Loved it!
April 18, 2018
The first half of the book was well done but then it just became about Lawrence's friends and partying in the Sound.
July 19, 2019
Started reading this book a year ago. It was good but once I returned from a kayaking trip in the Johnston Strait, BC I found it so much more enjoyable as I could imagine the setting and the characters more vividly.
September 6, 2023
Being a Lookout!Records nerd and having grown up on the BC coast myself, with a stoic father, obnoxious friends and an appetite for beer, I found these stories highly relatable. My favourite has to be the saga of Carl & Jenna.. "SO HOW DO YOU LIKE MY RADIO SHOW?" Hahaha I was cracking up.
May 25, 2016
This is a pitch-perfect personal narrative about Desolation Sound, a remote archipelago on BC's central coast from the king of Canadian indie music journalism, Grant Lawrence.
To me Grant has always been a cool music guy, as the original host of the first, longstanding, eponymous CBC radio 3 podcast (which he is still helms). So imagine my surprise to read of how he was a hopelessly nerdy knock-kneed, coke-bottle-glasses-wearing kid, who shied away from rugged nature and idolized his stoic and superhero-like father.
From the initial humanizing depictions of awkward-kid Grant projectile vomiting in the car while his dad punches the hairpin turns of the sunshine coast highway, he takes us on a family journey of growing up, growing apart and coming back. Along the way, he tells us about the community and history of this beautiful and rugged piece of coastline. We hear about the colourful neighbours, the region's dramatic pioneer stories, a smattering of first nations history, and all about Captain George Vancouver's voyage when he very accurately surveyed the area (and hated it), dubbing it "Desolation Sound". Not too much about ecology and nature in the area, though there's an enjoyable bit of detail about fishing and boats.
Grant hits the personal narrative/nonfiction sweet spot with humour, characters, history, and description. His great love for the people that populate the book and for his family's "little place in the wilderness" is obvious on every unpretentious, charming page. Great summer read for BC natives and newcomers.
To me Grant has always been a cool music guy, as the original host of the first, longstanding, eponymous CBC radio 3 podcast (which he is still helms). So imagine my surprise to read of how he was a hopelessly nerdy knock-kneed, coke-bottle-glasses-wearing kid, who shied away from rugged nature and idolized his stoic and superhero-like father.
From the initial humanizing depictions of awkward-kid Grant projectile vomiting in the car while his dad punches the hairpin turns of the sunshine coast highway, he takes us on a family journey of growing up, growing apart and coming back. Along the way, he tells us about the community and history of this beautiful and rugged piece of coastline. We hear about the colourful neighbours, the region's dramatic pioneer stories, a smattering of first nations history, and all about Captain George Vancouver's voyage when he very accurately surveyed the area (and hated it), dubbing it "Desolation Sound". Not too much about ecology and nature in the area, though there's an enjoyable bit of detail about fishing and boats.
Grant hits the personal narrative/nonfiction sweet spot with humour, characters, history, and description. His great love for the people that populate the book and for his family's "little place in the wilderness" is obvious on every unpretentious, charming page. Great summer read for BC natives and newcomers.
April 14, 2011
I really enjoyed this book and it made me homesick for the West Coast. Grant Lawrence is a music journalist whose father was a bit of an adventurer and bushman. His dad bought up properties in an isolated area called Desolation Sound and Grant and his family started spending their summers there when he was a kid. The early chapters are filled with their misadventures which include a lot of pot smoking hippies and nudity. When he reaches his later years, Grant rediscovers his love for the Sound and starts spending a lot of time out there. This book is part memoir, part wilderness tale and part history. Grant spends a lot of time discovering the people who have lived in the Sound and the many characters that spend time there. This is an interesting read if you're into specific local history. Parts of it are pretty funny too.
January 2, 2012
This was a wonderful book about a family , specifically the father, who wanted to find a place they could go to get away from the crowds and busyness of Vancouver. They found such a place in Desolation Sound on the west coast of B.C. It is accessible only by boat or float-plane. The author started going there as a child and still spends as much time as possible there. He describes the beauty of the place and some of the weird and wonderful characters his family met. Some of the encounters are very funny (eg. the nude potluck). Most of the people they meet are very, very different than those the family would normally spend time with. But they are gradually won over by the friendliness and helpfulness of many of their neighbours. It makes me want to explore that part of my province.
January 25, 2012
Wow! This book is really wonderful. I found the writing straight-forward and poignant, and also very funny. I would recommend this book to anyone who has ever felt uneasy in wildlife situations, anyone who was ever forced to go somewhere they didn't want to with their parents, or for those who have experienced a cabin or cottage situation.
The book is broken up into two parts, the first set during the author's childhood which involves rusty float planes, old row boats, and strange hermits near the family cabin. The second half is the author's adult life at the same cabin, and all the changes that have occurred. Some of the stories are really outrageous.
A great adventure story as well! Loved it!
The book is broken up into two parts, the first set during the author's childhood which involves rusty float planes, old row boats, and strange hermits near the family cabin. The second half is the author's adult life at the same cabin, and all the changes that have occurred. Some of the stories are really outrageous.
A great adventure story as well! Loved it!
October 22, 2012
Lawrence's book about his family's cottage up in Desolation sound is pretty entertaining. It made me laugh out loud quite a few times. It is the sort of book that I like to have going on Kindle, because I can open it up on my phone and read small chunks at random times, and not feel like I have to remember what was happening before. (Fiction doesn't work so well for that.) So I read half of it like that, in odd intervals here and there, and then the second half in one fell swoop on a cross country flight.
If you have a love for the BC coast, or a curiosity about it, this book is great. Made me happy to be moving back to this amazing and beautiful land. :)
If you have a love for the BC coast, or a curiosity about it, this book is great. Made me happy to be moving back to this amazing and beautiful land. :)
September 17, 2013
If you have heard Grant Lawrence on his CBC Radio 3 podcasts, you'll know that he revels in revealing what most of us hide, and his tales here are no exception. He happily tells you the most embarrassing or disgusting incidents of his life, especially if the joke is on him. Although more anecdotal than plotted, this memoir is about how an isolated cabin in Desolation Sound began as a dream for his outdoorsman father and a nightmare for a nerdish young Grant, but evolved to become one of the most important places in his life. He weaves in stories of other pioneers and characters of the area, but the book is at its best when about his own experiences.
December 28, 2014
I am familiar with the west coast and the summer vacations that people take there. This book could have almost been my memoir. We didn't row out to an island and build our own house there, but the stages where we would spend hours at BC ferry terminals in the relentless heat, separated from the beach by a fence to the teenage apathy to the re-discovery of our childhood summers really did resonate with me. While the writing is nothing spectacular, Grant does a great job of conveying the environment, the struggles and the 80s on the west coast very well. I have recommended this book to everyone I know who has had the same experiences.
February 15, 2017
I loved this book. I'm sitting on a remote island in Thailand feeling homesick for my home islands of Haida Gwaii in NW Canada. I'm not sure if I loved these stories so much because I have been gone almost a month and can't wait to take the ferry back home and see similar landscape to Desolation Sound or not. I love the characters, the way the stories take you through the authors life from childhood to present, and just the way it all reminds me of the PNW that I love from Seattle to Haida Gwaii. Regardless, I just wanted to read one story after the other and it made me laugh and cry. It was wonderful.
May 27, 2011
This was a fun read, but did fall a little short in a few areas for me.
I loved reading about the landscape desolation sound and some of the stories of his early "nerdom" were laugh out loud funny.
I was hoping for a little more reflection on solitude given the title and I felt like the book became a little unfocused towards the end.
That being said, there's a lot of local history and I love a good B.C. book so I did enjoy it.
I loved reading about the landscape desolation sound and some of the stories of his early "nerdom" were laugh out loud funny.
I was hoping for a little more reflection on solitude given the title and I felt like the book became a little unfocused towards the end.
That being said, there's a lot of local history and I love a good B.C. book so I did enjoy it.
November 11, 2012
A hilarious and poignant account of a boy's summers in Desolation Sound, drifting away and returning to this place of character and solitude. Peppered with facts about Captain Vancouver's exploration of the area and accounts of real-life legends, this highly enjoyable book appeals to fishermen, historians and nature lovers alike.
November 14, 2015
Possible other title: "Roughing it in the bush" West Vancouver style or "Tales of adventure for overpriviledged Vancouverites" Seriously, I didn't see any solitude or many adventures. The best part was the description of driving up the Peninsula to Earl's Cove. As a former Lundite (Not Lundoner!) I found the descriptions of the local people and sites somewhat exaggerated.
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