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A Newfoundlander in Canada
A Newfoundlander in Canada: Always Going Somewhere, Always Coming Home | Alan Doyle
7 posts | 7 read | 2 to read
Following the fantastic success of his bestselling memoir, Where I Belong, Great Big Sea front man Alan Doyle returns with a hilarious, heartwarming account of leaving Newfoundland and discovering Canada for the first time. Armed with the same personable, candid style found in his first book, Alan Doyle turns his perspective outward from Petty Harbour toward mainland Canada, reflecting on what it was like to venture away from the comforts of home and the familiarity of the island. Often in a van, sometimes in a bus, occasionally in a car with broken wipers "using Bob's belt and a rope found by Paddy's Pond" to pull them back and forth, Alan and his bandmates charted new territory, and he constantly measured what he saw of the vast country against what his forefathers once called the Daemon Canada. In a period punctuated by triumphant leaps forward for the band, deflating steps backward and everything in betweenopening for Barney the Dinosaur at an outdoor music festival, being propositioned at a gas station mail-order bride service in Alberta, drinking moonshine with an elderly church-goer on a Sunday morning in PEIAlan's few established notions about Canada were often debunked and his own identity as a Newfoundlander was constantly challenged. Touring the country, he also discovered how others view Newfoundlanders and how skewed these images can sometimes be. Asked to play in front of the Queen at a massive Canada Day festival on Parliament Hill, the concert organizers assured Alan and his bandmates that the best way to showcase Newfoundland culture was for them to be towed onto stage in a dory and introduced not as Newfoundlanders but as "Newfies." The boys were not amused. Heartfelt, funny and always insightful, these stories tap into the complexities of community and Canadianness, forming the portrait of a young man from a tiny fishing village trying to define and hold on to his sense of home while navigating a vast and diverse and wonder-filled country.
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DieAReader
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rabbitprincess I have this on my audio wishlist! 3y
DieAReader @rabbitprincess It was a really great listen tbh. I felt like I was along for the ride with them! I hope you enjoy it😉 3y
CoverToCoverGirl Girl, you‘re killing the readathon 👏🏻🎉✅ 3y
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DieAReader @CoverToCoverGirl 💜🥰Thanks! Maybe it‘s the different approach I‘m trying? I think I still got some catching up to do after all😏😉 3y
ShelleyBooksie Alan Doyle is my fav. Such a talented musician and author. 3y
Andrew65 Doing brilliantly 👏👏👏 3y
DieAReader @ShelleyBooksie I have all his other books on hold through Libby. I can‘t wait to listen to them. Their music, I‘m familiar with but I already to I‘ve listened to different ones I‘d never heard before.💜 3y
DieAReader @Andrew65 Thanks! I hope I can get my page count up on some of the others on my weekend TBR before🕛🤞🏻 3y
Andrew65 Good luck. 3y
DieAReader @Andrew65 💜Merci! 3y
35 likes10 comments
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arubabookwoman
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#wondrouswednesday (on Thursday) @Eggs And thanks for the tag @zezeki 1. I would love to visit eastern and northern Canada--Newfoundland, Novia Scotia, Labrador, Prince Edward Island, St. Lawrence River, Quebec and Montreal.
2. Trying to finish all the library books I have out.

arubabookwoman Next year I want to read more of my own books instead of 95% from the library. 4y
Eggs Canada 🇨🇦❣️ Thanks for joining in 👏🏻📚🤗 4y
charl08 Good luck with your challenge. I always have good intentions re my own books... 4y
21 likes3 comments
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silentrequiem
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Friggin' hilarious! Doyle writes about how touring with GBS made him appreciate the country he was born into. And lots of laugh out loud funny stories along the way! I think I listened to that chapter about the plane ride with the baby with a horrified look on my face. Perfect road trip fodder.

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silentrequiem
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My listen as I'm driving back to ABQ from Denver. It's freaking hilarious. I am loving this, and it should be finishing right as I'm getting home.

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silentrequiem
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He signed it! And it was a fantastic show!

merelybookish Fun! I used to go see Great Big Sea play in Halifax. Way back when... ☺️ 7y
silentrequiem @merelybookish I'm still upset they broke up. 😭 I'm so glad I got to see him tonight. I had tickets a few years back when he was playing in Annapolis but I had a 104 degree fever and acute tonsillitis. I nearly still went but my common sense prevailed. 7y
merelybookish @silentrequiem Well I'm glad it worked out tonight! I didn't realize they'd broken up. 🤤 Not in Canada anymore. But would move back to the Maritimes in a heartbeat! 7y
silentrequiem @merelybookish There wasn't a big announcement. All the band members just started doing their own things and eventually, it just happened. Both Sean and Alan are releasing great music and touring. Bob, I think is keeping closer to home. Not sure what the others are doing. 7y
34 likes4 comments
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silentrequiem
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Go to a concert. Buy a book. My goal is to get Alan Doyle to sign it. 😍

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FantasyChick
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When you're going through some Goodreads giveaways and decide, for giggles, to see what you've already entered in....only to discover that you actually won one!!!! I entered this one because a good friend of mine is obsessed with Great Big Sea but the reason doesn't matter....still won!!Thanks Goodreads, I much prefer the surprise of not knowing anyway lol #winning

JoeStalksBeck Awesome! 7y
Desirai Wow congrats! How does one find this page on Goodreads? 7y
FantasyChick @Desirai not sure on the app but on the website you go to 'browse' click on 'giveaways' and on the side you can click on 'giveaways' you entered'. It will show all you have entered and you can sort them there to find ones you have won. 7y
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CrowCAH Congrats! 7y
Eryn2513 I totally didn't know Alan from GBS wrote a book. So stoked!!! 7y
FantasyChick @Eryn2513 I think this is actually his second book!! 7y
Eryn2513 Yesssss! Amazon, here I come! Thanks! 7y
FantasyChick 🙌🤗🙌 7y
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