In Books
  • All Departments
  • In Books
  • In Bargain Books
  • In eReading
  • In Kids' Books
  • In Teens' Books
  • In Toys & Games
  • In Video Games
  • In Lifestyle & Paper
  • In Movies & TV
  • In Music
  • In Used & Rare Books
  • In Used & Rare Movies & TV
  • In Used & Rare Music
West of Wawa

Average rating: 5/5

Based on 5 ratings

Rate this

West of Wawa

by Lisa de Nikolits

Inanna Publications | September 15, 2011 | Trade Paperback

Emotionally battered and bruised, 29-year-old Australian immigrant Benny is looking for escape, not redemption. Escape from herself and the dismal failures of her life: her first solo art exhibition is panned by critics and her husband left her for an Andy Warhol look-alike. Isolated from her family, her career as an abstract artist in ruins, she comes to Canada and finds solace working eighteen hours a day as a graphic designer in a disreputable agency. Numbing her pain with hard work, she self-medicates with prescription meds, and becomes involved in a series of increasingly dubious relationships with ill-suited unreliable men who lead her into danger. Cutting off all ties with normalized daily routines, Benny leaves her job and sets off on a road trip adventure across Canada, hoping she will discover who she wants to be and where she wants to be it. During the bus trip she discovers junk food, cigarettes, hash and drinks a lot of alcohol. She confuses sexual attraction with love in a series of relationships with loser bad boys and continues to put herself in destructive, potentially dangerous situations. Hardcore, she travels for the most part by Greyhound bus, sinking deeper into the underbelly of a world that offers her the anonymity she seeks. Funny, aggressive, fearless and vulnerable, Benny is a road-warrior with a backpack of opiates, a map and a guileless sense of naiveté. In seventy-two days, she travels nearly ten thousand miles overland and more by flight and train; she''s a determined modern-day pioneer. This coming-of-age novel is narrated with wry humour and filled with a cast of engaging characters. A tale of sexual adventure and feminist learning, Benny looks for escape but emerges a heroine instead; with mistakes, epiphanies and friendships helping forge her a home and a sense of identity in the true North.

Save 24 %

$22.95
$17.44
$16.57

In Stock

This item is found in: Fiction and Literature

Reviews

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?

    Rating: 5/5

    A wonderful journey!

    Lorry-Ann Austin

    3 weeks ago

    I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and found Benny's journey across our great land to be both thought provoking and ultimately inspiring. I enjoyed the familiarity of many of the places she visits and loved her interpretation of the Canadian landscape. Benny notes at one point how easy it is to take a wrong turn in life - a message that should resonate with us all. I highly recommend De Nikolits' wonderful novel and look forward to reading more from her in the future.

    • Was this review
      helpful to you?

    I have just finished reading Lisa de Nikolits book 'West of Wawa' and loved it. Benny, a 29 year old Aussie has immigrated to Canada after finding out
    her husband has left her for a man and her first one-woman art show received a horrible review. Determined to start a new life in Canada,
    she buys an open bus ticket for Vancouver. At times I wanted to shake Benny and at other times I wanted to hug her but I could not put
    the book down until she finished her trip.

    Comments on this review:
    Arash Azizi

    3 out of 5 One shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, so goes the saying. In case of “West of Wawa”, I didn’t have a choice since the friend who lent it to me had meticulously wrapped it with old magazine covers and I could never see the actual cover. In retrospect, Judging it from its title would also not be a wise choice since de Nikolits’s latest novel is about way more than the small Northern Ontario city of Wawa. In fact, there is so much travel involved that you can be forgiven for feeling vertigo at some parts and if you are a road novel lover like myself, you will take a special liking to it. (this is the opening paragraph of a longer review I wrote on Amazon).

Product Buzz

Details

From the Publisher

Emotionally battered and bruised, 29-year-old Australian immigrant Benny is looking for escape, not redemption. Escape from herself and the dismal failures of her life: her first solo art exhibition is panned by critics and her husband left her for an Andy Warhol look-alike. Isolated from her family, her career as an abstract artist in ruins, she comes to Canada and finds solace working eighteen hours a day as a graphic designer in a disreputable agency. Numbing her pain with hard work, she self-medicates with prescription meds, and becomes involved in a series of increasingly dubious relationships with ill-suited unreliable men who lead her into danger. Cutting off all ties with normalized daily routines, Benny leaves her job and sets off on a road trip adventure across Canada, hoping she will discover who she wants to be and where she wants to be it. During the bus trip she discovers junk food, cigarettes, hash and drinks a lot of alcohol. She confuses sexual attraction with love in a series of relationships with loser bad boys and continues to put herself in destructive, potentially dangerous situations. Hardcore, she travels for the most part by Greyhound bus, sinking deeper into the underbelly of a world that offers her the anonymity she seeks. Funny, aggressive, fearless and vulnerable, Benny is a road-warrior with a backpack of opiates, a map and a guileless sense of naiveté. In seventy-two days, she travels nearly ten thousand miles overland and more by flight and train; she''s a determined modern-day pioneer. This coming-of-age novel is narrated with wry humour and filled with a cast of engaging characters. A tale of sexual adventure and feminist learning, Benny looks for escape but emerges a heroine instead; with mistakes, epiphanies and friendships helping forge her a home and a sense of identity in the true North.

About the Author

Born in South Africa, Lisa de Nikolits has a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Philosophy. She has lived and worked all over the world, and has art directed on magazines such as marie claire, Vogue, Vogue Living and Cosmopolitan. Her fiction has been published in the anthologies Stories from Our Black Book and Simply the Best. Her prize-winning poetry was published in The Boy from New Brunswick. Her first novel, Single Girls Go Mad Sooner, was published in 1995. She lives in Toronto.

Trade Paperback

260 Pages, 5.5 x 8.25 x 0.68 in

September 15, 2011

Inanna Publications

English


1926708245
9781926708249

< close and return to chapters.indigo.ca
kobo
  • Take your library with you wherever you go
  • Use the device you want to use… smartphone, desktop and many of today’s most popular eReaders
  • Use Indigo gift cards to buy eBooks and subscriptions

WHY KOBO?

We love the Kobo eReading service… and we know you will too. We’ve partnered with them to bring you the most flexible, enjoyable eReading experience in Canada.

SHOPPING ON KOBO

You’ll be asked to sign in or create a new account with Kobo. Once you do, you’ll immediately get access to millions of titles and be ready to start eReading. Anytime. Anyplace.

continue to kobo

Sign up for email

Be the first to know

about discounts, promotions and new releases.

Sign up now 

Self Publish

Get your book published

and on our shelves!

Find out how  

Protected by Copyright. All Rights Reserved. Legal Notices and Terms of Use | Privacy Policy  

Portions of content provided by Rovi Corporation © 2010

Powered by EndecaVeriSign SecuredEssential Accessibility 

As Canada’s purveyor of ideas and inspiration, Indigo is the largest book, gift and specialty toy retailer in Canada. Indigo operates in all provinces under different banners including Indigo Books & Music; Indigo Books, Gifts, Kids; IndigoSpirit; Chapters; The World's Biggest Bookstore; and Coles. The online channel, www.indigo.ca, features books, eBooks, toys and gifts and hosts the award winning Indigo Online Community.

111