George Bowering is one of the country`s most respected and beloved authors. In his remarkable career, he has written more than forty books of poetry, fiction and non-fiction, winning the Governor-General`s Award twice. A Magpie Life is a memoir of a literary life. It is vintage Bowering - funny, self-deprecating and perceptive - and as wide-ranging as his interests. And in true Bowering style, it delights in surprising the reader with profound understanding carefully cloaked by wry humour. Dispensing with the details of his life in the opening "Alphabiography," a witty and moving account in which the important aspects of his life are detailed alphabetically, Bowering settles down to write the story of the literary influences on his life and writing. The reader is treated to a wonderful portrait of the renegade young hipsters who founded the landmark literary magazine Tish in Vancouver in the early 60s; to insights into the structure and style of the poets who influenced his own writing; and to what it was like to carve a writing life from the western edge of the Canadian literary renaissance. A Magpie Life will forever ruin Bowering`s carefully-crafted image as the western rube. It`s funny and smart and one of the best literary memoirs you`ll read. (2001)