The Edmonton Book of Everything
It was my birthday on Friday, and a friend gave me a book called the Edmonton Book of Everything. It’s meant to be a compendium of all things Edmonton. I haven’t given it a close look yet, but I’ve flipped through it, and it does seem to be as all-encompassing as a 192-page book can be.
I’ll definitely be checking out some of the restaurants mentioned in the book (including the Motoraunt—the restaurant housed inside of a modified double-decker bus—which I’ve been meaning to visit for quite some time), as well as many of the other interesting Edmonton locales mentioned.
I do, however, have a couple of issues with the book. The first is the authors’ claim that Edmonton’s “City of Champions” moniker has to do with the (former) glory of the city’s professional sports teams.
This is not true.
In fact, the “City of Champions” name was coined by former mayor Laurence Decore after Black Friday. It has nothing to do with River City’s sports teams. It is meant to refer to the fact that Edmonton, after coming together as a community in response to the tornado, was a city of champions (i.e., all Edmontonians are champions).
The book also claims that the city’s slogan is no longer “City of Champions,” and that is it now “City of Festivals.” To the best of my knowledge, this is also inaccurate. There was discussion about changing the city’s slogan recently, but I was under the impression that, ultimately, the slogan wasn’t changed.
I may be wrong on that point, however, so please correct me if my information is incorrect.
Other than those 2 small quibbles, the book seems like a pretty cool guide to Edmonton, and I’ll probably be citing it on River City Writer in the future. If you see the Edmonton Book of Everything in the bookstore, check it out.
That book looks awesome! Other than the small issues that you have noted, it really looks informative. I was thinking I should order one for my husband, but then again I think I’ll be stealing it from him to read anyway. Although I feel that I am more or less in touch with my hometown, despite having been living away from it for an extended period of time, there are some questions about Edmonton that I struggle to answer or things that I have taken for granted for so long that I never really thought about.
Another good book along those lines is “Mavericks: An Incorrigible History of Alberta” by Aritha van Herk. Obviously it’s about Alberta, not specific to Edmonton, it was fantastic and I couldn’t put it down. She notes in the book that the “City of Champions” slogan was a response to Black Friday as well.
Michelle
3 Dec 07 at 9:58 pm
It does appear to be a pretty great book, so far, Michelle.
I’ve heard about Mavericks, but the title made me think it was a cheesy attempt at making the history of Alberta sound like the Wild West, so I’ve never given it a read. Perhaps that’s unfair, but that’s the impression that the title gives me.
Adam Snider
4 Dec 07 at 12:39 pm