Shawn Micallef

Do you love Toronto and walking, sorry, strolling? Or hate Toronto but don't mind getting your feet dirty? Or can't imagine walking further than the nearest coffee shop in this city you can't help but love? Either way, this book is for you. Shawn Micallef will have you look where you've never looked before, discover beauty in brutalist facades, history behind corporate storefronts, culture where no Starbucks has ever set a latte.

I like walking, and I've been out discovering the city on foot ever since I moved to Toronto, but it's only after reading Stroll that I realized how much I had been missing of the cityscape. How, as a newcomer, I had failed to realize that even the most modern building always has a history worth telling. Micallef's love for Toronto permeates his writing, and like a seasoned lover, he is keenly aware of both the most striking features and the most embarrassing shortcomings of his city. Which makes it even more sympathetic to the reader. So grab a copy of this book and go out. Now!

Dirty secret: Stroll is actually quite enjoyable to the armchair Torontonian, too.

Bonus: as of the time of this writing, Micallef is one of the writers in residence at the Toronto Public Library, and is organizing free guided tours of the city. I for one am signed up for the next one!… (meer)

The variety of layouts makes the book a pleasure to browse. Sometimes larger shots of a single building span two pages; other times, with row houses, a string of smaller images spans the two pages with two rows beneath capturing each individual building photographed again in later years. Then there are the kaleidoscopic pages of colour images (20 to a page) arranged thematically (e.g. Dead Stores, Gothic Cottages) which are a lot of fun. It's easy to imagine the stories weaving amongst these images, and the book makes you want to get out and walk and explore and suss out the stories in your own neighbourhood. Nicely done.… (meer)