Late Nights on Air

this review is for the audio edition, narrated by the author.

elizabeth hay spent years working in radio with the CBC, so she totally has the vocal chops to narrate her own work. i have had the pleasure of seeing hay in-person, so knew i would be in for a treat. plus, this is a novel i already love, having read it twice in paper. i was completely transported by listening to the story. though, there was one moment in the book that i, now that it was experienced it again, have decided i must have very purposefully evicted any memory or recollection ability from my brain. look authors - yes, all of you 😂 - not many of you can write sex scenes well. it seems to be an achilles heel for so many literary writers. given how eye-rollingly bad show more some of this kind of writing can be (there is a reason the 'bad sex in fiction award' exists), my deepest hope is that, at the very least, the author had a hell of a good time coming up with their passages. i cannot even begin to guess what hay was thinking on, but i fear the moment is now burned into my brain forever, and i kind of want that brain space back. again, 😂 😂 😂. if you *must* know, and apparently you do, hay includes a scene in which she describes one character's penis, through another character's feelings about it. length and girth are mentioned, and there is a comparison to an oh henry! bar. i mean... what? the character pondering her partner's penis wasn't even hungry, and there was no 9 ½ weeks scene going on. i fear i will never look at an oh henry! bar the same way. ever. again. that brief moment in the book aside, i still love this story, and how vividly hay brings yellowknife, nwt to life. i love it when settings are weighty characters in excellent stories. show less

Set in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, during the mid-1970s, the novel is focused initially on three people associated with the local radio station: novice Gwen Symon, interim station manager Harry Boyd, and alluring host Dido Paris. The narrative follows their interactions, along with other radio employees and local townsfolk. The storyline builds toward a pivotal canoe trip that several characters undertake into the Barrens, following the route of a real explorer, John Hornby.

The historical backdrop includes the 1975 Berger Inquiry into a proposed Mackenzie Valley Pipeline, which addresses conflicts between newcomers and indigenous peoples. The radio station setting allows Hay to examine how we present ourselves to the show more world. The characters' relationships with their own voices - Gwen's initial uncertainty, Harry's professional polish, Dido's seductive control - become vehicles for exploring authenticity.

Hay's lyrical prose captures the landscape's stark beauty. The tone is melancholy. It is slow-paced with an emphasis on atmosphere and introspection rather than external action. It speaks to fundamental questions about belonging, environmental responsibility, and the human need for both connection and solitude. show less

Last year, I read Alone in the Classroom and fell in love with Elizabeth Hay's writing. The book itself wasn't great; forward momentum just disappeared in the second half, but the writing was lovely; clear and precise, with ordinary turns of speech mixed with astonishing metaphors. So I was all set for an enjoyable few evenings with her Giller Prize winner, Late Nights on Air.

"I heard Abe Lamont talking about how to shape an interview and write for radio. It's not so different, is it? One thought in each sentence. Not too many adjectives. Simplicity. Intimacy. Directness. That's what I'm after, too."

Late Nights on Air is written in that same clear style, which here reflects the setting of the book; the clear, thin northern air, without show more unnecessary decoration, but full of the magnificence of the breadth of the country. It concerns a group of co-workers, almost all recent transplants, at a radio station in Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories in the mid-1970s. Beginning when Dido Paris is hired by the station, the story follows the various broadcasters as they adjust to life in the north and as a judge conducts hearings on whether or not an gas pipeline should be built. Inspired by a radio play dramatizing the fate of John Hornby's final expedition to the Barrens, four of them set off on a canoe trip across the tundra. The story is intensely character driven, from Gwen, the uncertain neophyte, to Dido, the charismatic and volatile focus of many, to Harry, the jaded, but wise station manager, [Late Nights on Air] is all about how living north of the 60th parallel changes them and how their relationships changed or didn't change over time.

I inhabited this book while I read it. I have a fascination for the northern wilderness and the canoe trip that forms the backbone of the book was beautifully described. Yellowknife was almost a character in the book, with so much based on the unique culture of the Canadian north. show less

Where to even begin? Elizabeth Hay's eloquence and utter humanity has nearly struck me dumb. I loved this book, LATE NIGHTS ON AIR, so much that I didn't want it to end.

Canadian writers have fascinated me for years, maybe because I'm always so amazed that many great and well-known authors in Canada are all but UNknown here in the U.S. I remember discovering the funny and oh-so-human SMITH novels of Paul St Pierre many years ago. And of course there is always Farley Mowat, who is pretty well-known down here in the 48, probably mostly for his memoir, NEVER CRY WOLF. But his other two memoirs, BORN NAKED and AND NO BIRDS SANG are equally good, and they are all but invisible here in this country.

And there is Linden MacIntyre, the show more award-winning CBC journalist, with his Cape Breton novel trilogy and his lovely memoir of that region, CAUSEWAY. I simply can't understand how those books have not caught on here.

But now here is Elizabeth Hay, who has obviously been around for quite a while now and won some prestigious literary awards, and I am just now discovering her. Or thought I was, until I remembered I had read A STUDENT OF WEATHER some years back, a book I found, sadly, in a remainder bin. (Where I often find some of the very best books.)

LATE NIGHTS ON AIR is a literary gem, written from an omniscient point-of-view with love and care for its several main characters, who have all been turned and polished so that all of their facets and flaws are revealed under the light of careful and appreciative reading. And I did appreciate these fictional folks, make no mistake, all of whom worked at a small Northern Services radio station in Yellowknife, Northwest Territory, an historical settlement on the shore of Great Slave Lake.

First there is Harry, a embittered veteran of radio who peaked early, tried TV and failed, and is now, in his mid-forties, back where he started twenty years before.

The story unfolds in the mid-70s and begins with Harry hearing a voice on his own radio station, a late night radio voice that he hasn't heard before. The voice belongs to Dido Paris, a new hire, a beautiful young woman with a past and indeterminate sexual preferences, who leaves her lasting mark on Harry, as well as on all the other people whose lives she touches.

There is Eleanor Dew, the station's receptionist, who has her own unusual story which includes a brief unconsummated marriage. And Ralph, the station's book reviewer and nature photographer. And Eddie, a Vietnam vet and the station technician, and Harry's rival for Dido's affections.

But the novel's central character is Gwen, young and - mostly - innocent, still groping for her proper place in life, looking for a start in radio. Under Harry's guidance and Eleanor's friendship she gradually grows from a frightened young broadcaster into a confident and inventive late night radio personality with her own persona, 'Stella Round.'

Also key to the novel's forward impetus is the story of the Canadian explorer of the Barrens, John Hornby. Harry, Eleanor, Gwen and Ralph are all so fascinated by this man's legend and tragic end that they embark on a summer canoe trip retracing Hornby's last journey. (Both Hornby's trip and the retracing of it by this novel's characters made me remember Jon Krakauer's bestseller, INTO THE WILD.) And there is also the subtheme of an ongoing study by a federally appointed judge of the effects a planned pipeline would have on the fragile arctic ecosystem.

LATE NIGHTS ON AIR makes use of both of the most common themes in fiction: 'a new person comes to town' and 'someone goes on a journey.' And they are used and interwoven in a masterful manner. The book is filled with wonderful details that evoked so many memories and associations. The mention of Miles Davis' seminal album, KIND OF BLUE, made me remember my own introduction to that jazz masterpiece, at a remote army base in northern Turkey. The book's very title, and its theme, evoked memories of another more obscure but favorite album, Katy Moffatt's MIDNIGHT RADIO. And the description of the travelers' encounter with a massive herd of migrating caribou brought to mind Mowat's own similar experience in NEVER CRY WOLF.

There is nothing forced or contrived in LATE NIGHTS ON AIR. It has elements of tragedy, humor, and pathos. But what shines through the strongest is its utter humanity. As I said earlier, I wanted the story to go on and on. But its ending, while certainly not a happily-ever-after conventional sort of ending, is richly, deeply, and profoundly satisfying. I loved this book and recommend it highly. show less

There is something inherently intimate about radio. I am not talking about “shock jock” or talk radio where the sole purpose of the program is to brooch a controversial topic and get callers lighting up the switchboard to voice their opinions. I am talking about the late night deejays… the Venus Flytraps of the world with their silky voices, their sympathetic ears. Hay draws on her early work history as a Northwest Territories-based radio broadcaster for the CBC to weave an eloquently powerful Canadian novel. Hay stated during an interview that the starting point of this book for her was that real voices have fictional faces, that we make up what we think should be associated with the voice we hear. Hay’s makes use of this show more ‘disconnect’ to present a 1970's circa northern world at a cross roads, with sub-themes of a television station coming to encroach on radio country and a proposed gas pipeline that may threaten the wildlife habitat and native communities of the region. Hay’s characters are a motley crew. A straggling collection of humanity that, for reasons conscious or unconscious, have individually migrated to this remote hinterland. For this group, the radio station representing an outpost: a rest stop from their former lives before before heading on to their future.

Essentially, this is a love story, or maybe a series of love triangles as the characters bob and weave through the motions of infatuation, seduction, smothering love and abandonment. In Hay’s deft, sympathetic hands, the reader experiences the poignancy of unrequited love and the unforgiving nature and striking beauty of the Yellowknife and the Barrens. Through her writing, one can feel Hay’s compassion for the human spirit – sadness, longing, tenderness – as well as a strong love and respect for the raw power and isolation of the far north.

A richly poignant and deeply satisfying read. A well-deserved winner of the 2007 Giller Prize, IMO, and one of my favorite reads so far this year. show less

In Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay the readers are taken on a trip to Canada’s far north, with stops in Yellowknife and The Barrens. The author effortlessly captures the essence of the frontier atmosphere of this far northern land as well as the interesting people that chose to transplant themselves there.

This isn’t a fast moving, plot driven story. Instead in beautifully written prose the author takes us back to 1975 and introduces a handful of diverse characters that only have the radio station that they work at in common. By placing these characters in a variety of situations we are able to peel back the layers and see what makes them all unique individuals. They come together in different ways, but they all are nervous of show more exposing too much and making themselves vulnerable. Some are worried about their professional life, others are more concerned with their own personal goals but all are searching for a fresh start.

I felt that Late Nights on Air truly expressed a strong Canadian viewpoint, the author included many references to the Mackenzie Valley pipeline that was a big issue in the 1970s with natives, conversationalists and the oil business. The author herself both lived Yellowknife and worked in local radio so she knew of what she was writing about. I liked the book but was a little disappointed with the way that the author foreshadowed every plot point. Overall, an interesting but most probably not a memorable read. show less

Late Nights on Air was the Giller Prize winner for 2007 - and deservedly so.

Elizabeth Hay creates a group of characters who work at the radio station in Yellowknife in 1975. They all come from elsewhere - the misfits, the loners, the romantics, the people running away from life. The employees at the station fit into one or more of those categories. Harry, the station manager, has returned to radio after a disastrous attempt at television. Dido, the station’s most popular newsreader, fled her marriage after an ill-conceived affair with her father-in-law, only to find herself caught between the affections of Harry and Eddy, the station’s 'bad boy' engineer. Ralph has deep feelings for Eleanor, another refugee from a bad marriage. Gwen show more turns up in Yellowknife drawn north by childhood memories of a radio program about northern explorer John Hornby. (side note - read more about Hornsby - his expeditions sound fascinating). She dreams of a career in radio, only to find herself paralyzed by shyness and assigned to late night radio where her stammering won't be an issue.

Harry, Gwen, Eleanor and Ralph embark on a 6 weeks-long life-changing canoeing trip to retrace Hornsby's fatal expedition. The beauty of the North, the scenery, the quiet, the seduction, the underlying danger becomes a compelling fifth character on this trip.

Their lives are played out against the backdrop of Justice Thomas Berger's commission on the proposed building of the MacKenzie pipeline through the Yukon. Berger spent three years truly listening to all, going from native village to village, compiled 40,000 pages of testimony, and recommended “no pipeline now, and no pipeline across northern Yukon ever.”

Are you listening, Justin Trudeau!!??

Elizabeth Hay has written a wonderful book, peopled by characters that will stay with me. show less