Diane Schoemperlen has been described variously as “one of the most vibrant and original voices in our literature,” “incredibly intelligent and observant,” “funny,” and “creatively innovative.”She was the 1998 winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction for Forms of Devotion, her collection of short stories and pictures. And her most recent novel, the bestselling Our Lady of the Lost and Found, is being simultaneously released in trade paperback as this newest collection appears on the shelves. With Red Plaid Shirt, Schoemperlen shows that she is a writer at the top of her form an intriguing, wonderfully shape-shifting one, at that. Red Plaid Shirt presents 21 perfectly formed stories, a blend of favorites, out-of-print pieces and new work, all displaying Schoemperlen’s trademark wit, subtle irony and gift for turning everyday domesticities into dynamic, provocative prose. “Losing Ground”is a coming-of-age story in which a teenage girl starts to see herself as separate from her family. In “This Town,” Schoemperlen creates a witty newcomers’ guidebook to an ordinary town complete with handy cross-references. In “A Simple Story,” a tale of a man and his mistress is gradually uncovered, as a seemingly simple car accident unravels an epic tangle of lives and loves. As always, these are compulsively readable stories, deliciously difficult to resist, proving once again that Schoemperlen’s voice is as fresh, funny, and electric as ever.

Red Plaid Shirt

Literature & Fiction

SCHOEMPERLEN, Diane

Literary

Phyllis Bruce Books

She wasn’t looking for love. As a successful writer with an established career, a comfortable home and a supportive group of friends, her life was full. But then, 30 years after he broke her heart the first time, he walked into a book signing and back into her life. Spurred on by the idyll of a first love made good, they reconnect through emails—the bits and bytes of their messages re-forming into a real electricity between them. He is smitten. She is enthralled. 
 But, strangely, love has left her with a nasty case of writer’s block. She gathers all the strength she can find in the text around her—using optimistic horoscopes, evasive fortune cookies and the inanely unhelpful suggestions of books on writer’s block—to fight against the understanding that a love can’t be sustained on language alone. Then, in a surprising and wickedly delicious resolution, she recognizes that truth and fiction can be one and the same in matters of the heart, and that in a “he said, she said” story, the writer always gets the last word. 
 At A Loss For Words is another brilliant expression of Diane Schoemperlen’s gift for building the minutiae of everyday life into a profound understanding of women, men, love and imagination.

At A Loss For Words

Humor & Satire

Nominated for a SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award, selected by Toronto Star critic Philip Marchand as one of the year’s ten best novels, and the recipient of excellent reviews, In the Language of Love is Diane Schoemperlen’s innovative and imaginative first novel. Schoemperlen, who won the 1999 Governor General’s Award for Fiction for her short story collection Forms of Devotion, is a gifted writer, unafraid to play with literary convention. In the Language of Love is a perfect example, a novel in 100 chapters that uses the 100 stimulus words from the Standard Word Association as a framework. It is the story of Joanna, who has been brought up to believe that if she just does the right thing, happiness will be hers. As she discovers, life and love are determined more by chance than by control.In the Language of Love is a tour de force of deadpan wit and word play, drawing profound insights from the seemingly ordinary details of one woman’s daily life.

In the language of love: A novel in 100 chapters

HARPER/COLLINS

Forms of Devotion: Stories and Pictures

Diane Schoemperlen's acclaimed In the Language of Love expanded our expectations of the contemporary novel, using everyday words to deconstruct a young woman's life and loves. In her new short story collection,Forms of Devotion, she again tests the bounds of her craft, creating an arresting and wonderfully readable work that is also a treat for the eye.
Forms of Devotion contains eleven stories, each one a brilliant interplay of words and images. The illustrations, selected by Schoemperlen and depicting almost every subject imaginable, are wood engravings and line drawings from the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In some cases, she was inspired to write the story after studying the illustrations; in other cases, she wrote the story first, then chose or constructed the pictures to accompany it. The result is a playful, sometimes surreal and often mysterious juxtaposition of a historical fascination with anatomy and classical themes with the author's contemporary exploration of everyday people, places and things.
Each story is a creative delight, perfectly formed and rich in mischievous wit, irony and multi-layered meaning. The title story, “Forms of Devotion,” is a wonderful literary cataloguing of the traits and qualities of the faithful, those who “sail off to work, perfect confident that they will indeed get there: on time, intact. It does not occur to them that they could just as well be broadsided by a Coca-Cola delivery truck running the red light at the corner of Johnson and Main.” “Five Small Rooms” is an intriguing, spectral journey into the narrator's imagination, with the reader left wondering, “Is it madness or a murder mystery?” In “How Deep is the River,” the author offers an innovative, completely compelling take on the ubiquitous high school math problem that begins “Train A and Train B are traveling toward the same bridge from opposite directions…”
Quite different in form, yet alike in their ability to entertain and provoke, the stories inForms of Devotion show once again that Diane Schoemperlen's voice is as intriguing, fresh and electric as ever.

Short Stories & Anthologies

Harpercollins Canada

Our Lady of the Lost and Found

World Literature

HarperCollins Publishers Canada, Limited

Diane Schoemperlen's acclaimed In the Language of Loveexpanded our expectations of the contemporary novel, using everydaywords to deconstruct a young woman's life and loves. In her new shortstory collection, Forms of Devotion, she again tests the bounds of her craft, creating an arresting and wonderfully readable work that is also a treat for the eye.Forms of Devotioncontains eleven stories, each one a brilliant interplay of words andimages. The illustrations, selected by Schoemperlen and depictingalmost every subject imaginable, are wood engravings and line drawingsfrom the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In somecases, she was inspired to write the story after studying theillustrations; in other cases, she wrote the story first, then chose orconstructed the pictures to accompany it. The result is a playful,sometimes surreal and often mysterious juxtaposition of a historicalfascination with anatomy and classical themes with the author'scontemporary exploration of everyday people, places and things.
Eachstory is a creative delight, perfectly formed and rich in mischievouswit, irony and multi-layered meaning. The title story, “Forms ofDevotion,” is a wonderful literary cataloguing of the traits andqualities of the faithful, those who “sail off to work, perfectconfident that they will indeed get there: on time, intact. It does notoccur to them that they could just as well be broadsided by a Coca-Coladelivery truck running the red light at the corner of Johnson andMain.” “Five Small Rooms” is an intriguing, spectral journey into thenarrator's imagination, with the reader left wondering, “Is it madnessor a murder mystery?” In “How Deep is the River,” the author offers aninnovative, completely compelling take on the ubiquitous high schoolmath problem that begins “Train A and Train B are traveling toward thesame bridge from opposite directions…” 
Quite different in form, yet alike in their ability to entertain and provoke, the stories in Forms of Devotion show once again that Diane Schoemperlen's voice is as intriguing, fresh and electric as ever.

Forms Of Devotion

Phyllis Bruce Books Perennial

Diane Schoemperlen won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction with Forms of Devotion, her collection of short stories and pictures. That same distinctive and wonderfully entertaining voice infuses this latest collection, a compendium of 21 stories chosen by Schoemperlen from new, out-of-print and favorite works. “Losing Ground” is a remarkable coming-of-age story; “The Man of My Dreams” pulls us into a place where we too wonder what is real and what is dreamed; and “Forms of Devotion” explores with delicate irony what it means to be faithful in a secular, consumer-driven world.Every one of these pieces shines with Schoemperlen’s fresh and often deadpan funny voice, offering a compulsively readable mix of deeply felt emotion and finely wrought intellect. Red Plaid Shirt was shortlisted for the Upper Canada Brewing Company Writers’ Craft Award.

In the language of love : a novel in 100 chapters

Harpercollins

This book is in good condition. The pages are all there, firmly attached and clean. There are no writing, marking or underlining visible. The binding is solid and tight. The front and back covers are good as well.

Nominated for a SmithBooks/Books in Canada First Novel Award, selected by Toronto Star critic Philip Marchand as one of the year’s ten best novels, and the recipient of excellent reviews, In the Language of Love is Diane Schoemperlen’s innovative and imaginative first novel. Schoemperlen, who won the 1999 Governor General’s Award for Fiction for her short story collection Forms of Devotion, is a gifted writer, unafraid to play with literary convention. In the Language of Love is a perfect example, a novel in 100 chapters that uses the 100 stimulus words from the Standard Word Association as a framework. It is the story of Joanna, who has been brought up to believe that if she just does the right thing, happiness will be hers. As she discovers, life and love are determined more by chance than by control. In the Language of Love is a tour de force of deadpan wit and word play, drawing profound insights from the seemingly ordinary details of one woman’s daily life.

In The Language Of Love

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by SCHOEMPERLEN, Diane. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by SCHOEMPERLEN, Diane

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by SCHOEMPERLEN, Diane. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Red Plaid Shirt

At A Loss For Words

In the language of love: A novel in 100 chapters

Forms of Devotion: Stories and Pictures

Our Lady of the Lost and Found

Forms Of Devotion

Red Plaid Shirt

In the language of love : a novel in 100 chapters

Forms of Devotion: Stories and Pictures

In The Language Of Love