Montreal is an island unto itself. An architect’s paradise. A foodie’s dream, where a pastry will make you weep. It’s a city of extremes. The grandiose maximalism of Cirque du Soleil and Arcade Fire. The gritty punk scene and the thriving diner (casse-croûte) culture. Hot bacchanalian summers that never sleep, and cold brooding winters that draw you underground and inward. Perhaps that’s why it’s also a city of great style.
It’s where I grew up and when we had to move I never thought I would get over leaving. In many ways, I haven’t. It’s still, after all these years, the city of my heart. Playful, sexy, strangely celebratory and, above all, beautiful. Strolling through the city’s iconic neighborhoods — the Plateau, Mile End or Old Montreal to name a few — you see it everywhere you look: the impulse toward aesthetic pleasures, visual harmony. That desire to make everything, be it a bagel or a bookstore, a celebration of itself.
But there is, of course, a dark side to every great city. The literature of Montreal is both dreamy and uncompromising in its depths. It aspires to beauty, but it never forgets its shadows. There, the Wildean axiom “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars” is viscerally felt — and it’s a sentiment that pulses through the cultural blood of the city.
What should I read before I pack my bags?
Many classics of Montreal literature evoke place through a multitude of colorful local characters. “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz,” by Mordecai Richler, is a quintessential comic Montreal novel of the late 1950s (also try his last novel, “Barney’s Version”). “The Favorite Game,” by Leonard Cohen, is his autofictional exploration of growing up as a young Jewish boy (try also his collection of poems “The Spice-Box of Earth”). Short story master Mavis Gallant’s “Varieties of Exile” was originally titled “Montreal Stories” in Canada for good reason. Consider also Gabrielle Roy’s “The Tin Flute” and Michel Tremblay’s “The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant,” both empathetic portrayals of working class life among French speakers. “How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired,” by Dany Laferrière, is another ground breaking exploration of Montreal life from the perspective of a Haitian immigrant.
For a little mystery, try Louise Penny’s popular “Three Pines” detective series. Though set in a fictional town in Quebec, her novels often feature Montreal (“Glass Houses” in particular.) Kathy Reichs unearths the bones of the city in her thriller “Déjà Dead.” And Montreal’s rich queer culture is captured in the coming-of-age novels “The Geography of Pluto,” by Christopher DiRaddo, and “Bottle Rocket Hearts,” by Zoe Whittall.
Perhaps nothing will get you more excited to travel to Montreal than the dazzling work of Heather O’Neill. In novels like “Lullabies for Little Criminals” and “The Lonely Hearts Hotel,” O’Neill captures both the darkness and the dreaminess of the city in shimmering colors. O’Neill’s latest, “When We Lost Our Heads,” is a dizzying confection, offering a 19th-century glimpse of Montreal’s Golden Square Mile neighborhood with a sharp eye.
What stories provide a glimpse into modern Montreal?
Among more contemporary books, there is an abundance of literary gems: “Our Lady of Mile End,” by Sarah Gilbert, a collection of short stories set in the neighborhood of the same name; “Ru,” by Kim Thúy, a gorgeous Vietnamese immigrant story woven out of poignant vignettes; and “The Wagers,” by Sean Michaels, which evokes both the quotidian and magical elements of the city.
What books will take me behind closed doors?
A host of brilliant Montreal novels both evoke place and showcase the underbelly experiences of those who, for any number of reasons, live in the margins. In the vitriolic symphony that is “Cockroach,” by Rawi Hage, a struggling Lebanese immigrant imagines himself to be a literal cockroach. “Bone and Bread,” by Saleema Nawaz, explores the tumultuous lives of two orphaned sisters who grew up in a Hasidic community in Mile End. For a dark depiction of the working life (and Montreal loves a dark depiction of the working life), consider “The Dishwasher,” by Stéphane Larue, which was adapted into a film, or the fiery and incantatory “Whore,” by Nelly Arcan.
What literary landmarks and bookstores should I visit?
Librairie Drawn & Quarterly is a beautiful independent bookshop in the heart of Montreal’s Plateau area. It’s also an internationally renowned publisher of comics, including work by Kate Beaton, Adrian Tomine, Lynda Barry and Chester Brown, among many others. The bookstore’s idiosyncratically curated selection of titles and its gorgeous and singular interior make this a must-see. Other lovely English-language bookshops to visit along the way: Librairie Saint-Henri Books, Argo Bookshop (Montreal’s oldest indie), The Word.
Any restaurants I should visit?
In a gastronome’s playground like Montreal, it would be remiss of me not to mention some food stops. As the daughter of a woman who worked in Montreal delis for nearly all of the ’80s, I’m perhaps biased in putting forth that a smoked meat sandwich is its own quintessential experience of the city. I’d recommend Schwartz’s Deli, an institution unto itself that is approaching its centennial. There’s also Moishes Steakhouse, an institution frequented, in its heyday, by none other than Leonard Cohen (presumably before he became a vegetarian).
And nothing evokes Montreal for me (and many other Montrealers) quite like a bagel fresh from the fire. St-Viateur Bagel, located in the historic Mile End neighborhood (and featured in “The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz”), has been “defining the art of bagel making since 1957,” according to its website. To eat one of their bagels just out of the wood-burning oven is to taste my childhood. But even if it’s not a Proust’s madeleine for you, the baked good — like Montreal itself — is well worth the voyage.
Mona Awad’s Montreal Reading List
“The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz” and “Barney’s Version,” Mordecai Richler
“The Favorite Game” and “The Spice-Box of Earth,” Leonard Cohen
“Varieties of Exile,” Mavis Gallant
“The Tin Flute,” Gabrielle Roy
“The Fat Woman Next Door Is Pregnant,” Michel Tremblay
“How to Make Love to a Negro Without Getting Tired,” Dany Laferrière
“Three Pines” series (including “Glass Houses”), Louise Penny
“Déjà Dead,” Kathy Reichs
“The Geography of Pluto,” Christopher DiRaddo
“Bottle Rocket Hearts,” Zoe Whittall
“Lullabies for Little Criminals,” “The Lonely Hearts Hotel” and “When We Lost Our Heads,” Heather O’Neill
“Our Lady of Mile End,” Sarah Gilbert
“Ru,” Kim Thúy
“The Wagers,” Sean Michaels
“Cockroach,” Rawi Hage
“Bone and Bread,” Saleema Nawaz
“The Dishwasher,” Stéphane Larue
“Whore,” Nelly Arcan
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