1982

1982, by Jian Ghomeshi, 284 pages, Viking/Penguin Canada

Many people know Jian Ghomeshi as the host of Q, the popular arts and culture talk show on CBC Radio One. Others may know him as a former member of the band Moxy Früvous. Quite likely most people don't know much about Ghomeshi's early life as a teenager growing up in Thornhill, Ontario.

The majority of the action in1982 takes place in or around the year 1982, when Ghomeshi was in grades 9 and 10 at Thornlea Secondary School.

Ghomeshi writes about a few pivotal events that happened in his life in 1982. These events include, but are not limited to, the following: going out with his dream girl (Wendy), attending a major outdoor concert with Wendy where he becomes an instant fan of the group Talking Heads, and meeting two members of Rush: Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson.

These major happenings and others shed light on certain issues that Ghomeshi was trying to overcome at the time. Ghomeshi, who is of Iranian descent, was living in a largely white, middle-class area. He becomes involved with theatre and musical groups at school and is somewhat self-conscious about this at the start of 1982. He encounters racism in varying forms and experiences confusion about who he really is as a person.

He is not confused about his admiration and idolization of David Bowie, however. Ghomeshi's narrative must be seen through the prism of Bowie. I haven’t actually counted, but I’d be shocked if Bowie's name is mentioned less than a hundred times in this slim volume. Even Wendy, the dream girl, is seen as desirable because she reminds Ghomeshi of Bowie.

There is an elliptical or circular way in which the story unfolds. Ghomeshi will touch on an important event or moment, then go on to describe some of the background details (of a person involved in the event, for example), and then come back to fully describing the event itself. This style of writing makes for more dramatic and climactic reading.

Ghomeshi will sometimes allude to stories that he has told earlier in the book, but the repetition works well for the most part.

He favours brief, punchy sentences. Although he sometimes gets into heavy topics, the writing, overall, is in a humourous vein. The action rarely lags and that makes this book a quick read.

Jian Ghomeshi will be appearing at McNally Robinson this Saturday (October 13) at 7pm.