Staying cool in the urban jungle

By Jeff Kubik

I know what you’re thinking, and it’s alright. It happens to a lot of us and it’s nothing to be ashamed of. You don’t know where to go for quality books in Montreal or how to tactfully retreat from a bad poetry reading. You’re lost in the urban jungle without a cosmopolitan machete. You’re hip, but you’re not at your hippest quite yet. Poor bastard.

Your coffee table needs The Original Canadian City Dweller’s Almanac.

The Original Canadian City Dweller’s Almanac’s tagline calls it a book of “facts, rants, anecdotes and unsupported assertions for urban residents.” As a synopsis, it’s irrefutable. The almanac is just that, a book written by and, presumably, for those who understand the elusive Canadian urban chic. It’s not a know how guide that will transform your life or enlighten you but rather a casual reading experience that provides the perspective of its authors–Hal Niedzviecki and Darren Wershler-Henry–and its contributors to the urban landscape.

Particularly interesting is the section on Canadian “zines”–independent publications often available for under five dollars.

So if you’ve been wondering whether “urban hipster” is a dirty word, put your mind at ease. It’s two dirty words. Peasant.