Stephen Scobie was born in Scotland and has lived in Canada since 1965, teaching at the Universities of Alberta and Victoria. A widely published poet, he won the Governor General's Award in 1980 for McAlmon's Chinese Opera. He has also published extensively in the criticism of Canadian literature. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. Stephen Scobie lives in Victoria.
#4 on the Edmonton Journal "Edmonton Top 10" Bestseller list
"Stephen Scobie is a prolific poet and literary critic, the author
of 23 books, the founding publisher of Longspoon Press, a retired
University of Alberta English professor and a Fellow of the Royal
Society of Canada. In his latest work, Scobie takes the measure of
Paris through personal journal entries, poetry, literary theory and
criticism as well as through architectural and cultural history. It
is the act of moving through the city on foot, however, that ties
these disparate approaches together.. The Measure of Paris is also
autobiography; it is an expression of personal fascination by a
lifelong intellectual. When walking Paris with Scobie, the reader
is alternatively dazed by a surfeit of the unfamiliar and
exhilarated by the thrill of discovery." Doug Horner, Alberta
Views
"Measure of Paris by Stephen Scobie is a travelogue, memoir,
literary criticism and poetic look at Paris.... Scobie is the
ultimate flâneur and his philosophical meanderings through Paris
takes readers to sites of art, architecture and transit. His
history of the city planning, and the itineraries of Canadian
writers in Paris, makes for interesting reading and a different
look at a city that is larger than life. His personal musings were
my favourite, along with the insights into Haussman¹s influence and
transformation of Paris through the large-scale construction of the
streets and boulevards that make the Paris we know today."
September 26, 2010
[http://www.somisguided.com/weblog/book-review-measure-of-paris-by-stephen-s
cobie/
"...Scobie weaves together a book that is part straightforward
academic criticism, part anecdotal history and part autobiography."
Michael Brown,
http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/en/NewsArticles/2010/08/Authorlooksbackat
theEnglishdepartmentsrisetoprominence.aspx
#7 on the Edmonton Top 10 Non-Fiction List (Edmonton Journal), Aug
15/10
"As Alain De Botton does in The Art of Travel (2002), Scobie offers
a personal, evocative meditation on the meaning of place. For him,
the place is Paris, a city that has inspired a multitude of
literary responses. This one--which is illustrated with romantic,
painterly photographs by Eugene Atget (1857-1927)--is especially
notable: with a poet's sensibility and eloquence, the author
combines literary criticism, cultural history, poetry, and memoir
to create a work that is astonishingly fresh and engaging... Most
fascinating is Scobie's evocation of the 'ethos of Paris
topography' through an architectural and historical tour of the
city's streets; and most elegant and moving is his remembrance of
his last visit to Paris, when, grieving over the death of his wife,
he revives his love for a city that embraces him. A fine example of
travel writing. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates
through faculty; general readers." L. Simon, Choice, December
2010
"Scobie's interest has turned to love and part of the intent of The
Measure of Paris is to express this love by examining the many ways
in which Paris can be "measured": that is, experienced, understood,
viewed, appreciated, and fondly collected in memory and art - in
short, the way a lover recalls his mistress. Scobie's approach is
multidimensional and he appreciates that ultimately Paris is
unattainable. To paraphrase the British writer John Berger, Paris
is an older woman loved by a young man, and in this case it is
Scobie who is the young man. It is also a book about seeing (after
all, are not one's feelings about the beloved based on how she
appears?) the city through the eyes of past and contemporary
writers as well as through the very personal eye/I of Scobie near
the end of the book. The book thus is layered, or works like a
mosaic with a series of sharp, well-defined but varied tiles,
allowing for a complete picture only when the viewer pulls back."
Carmelo Militano, Prairie Fire, April 2011 [Full review found at
http://ojs.lib.umanitoba.ca/prairie_fire/article/view/137/128]
"'We'll always have Paris.' Bogart's immortal farewell in
Casablanca could also serve as a fitting conclusion to Stephen
Scobie's recent book The Measure of Paris. Here, he explores the
iconic city as not only a place but an inexhaustible, mutable idea
that shapes and is in turn shaped by those drawn to walk its
streets. Paris, Scobie claims, is a city that "never ends.' ...
Scobie is clearly a man of keen and dynamic mind. But this book
also shows us a man in love-in love with his subject, with
literature, and with the personal Parisian experiences he shared
with his wife, whose memory and influence are touchingly honoured
in the book's later chapters.... What emerges clearly from Scobie's
book is that Paris is indeed a city of dreams-a locus of memory,
inspiration, and creativity that is continually dreamed into fresh
myth and meaning by new visitors who are themselves subtly changed
forever. As Scobie says, in an echo of Bogart, 'There are many
farewells to Paris, and none of them is ever final.'" Amy Reiswig,
The Malahat Review, May 2011 [Full review at
http://www.malahatreview.ca/issues/174reviews_reiswig.html]
"Stephen Scobie is a well known figure in Canadian literary circles
and his book The Measure of Paris is clearly from the hand of a
poet and critic. In fact, it sometimes breaks into verse. It is the
work of a geographical outsider who has come to know the place
deeply over the years, and who is generous with his wide reading
and shrewd personal observation." George Fetherling, Diplomat and
International Canada, Spring 2011
"Bringing all the elements together under one Parisian banner,
Scobie shares his enthusiasm and knowledge of this great city by
creating a diverse text and organizing it into six parts. Blending
historical exploration with memoir, poetry, and assorted 'travel
guide bits'..." Linda Alberta, Prarie Books Now
"This cover is elegant and understated, as befits the subject
matter, yet still rich and eye-catching; indeed, it grabs one
immediately, and makes a lasting impression. The tone and content
of the photo convey the subject matter perfectly, and the design
itself is marked by a well-resolved, elegant integration of type
and image. The typeface is strong and appropriate, the subtle
graphic element added to the cover enriches it, and the overall
composition is beautifully handled." Winner of Book Cover / Jacket
Design, 2011 Alberta Book Publishing Awards Jury
"Because Scobie knows those literary parts of Paris inside out and
generously provides details along the way, he is able to vividly
recreate the writers' routes and lives, thus adding his own
contribution, indeed, to the literature inspired by the city of his
dreams." Christine Lorre-Johnston, Canadian Literature
"The book, as the note on the back cover says, is a mixture of
history, criticism, poetry, and memoir.... This strange mix of
materials is beautifully and intelligently
executed.... Scobie's book revealed to me a set of ideas that
have been out there for a long time-the connection between walking
and creativity, but more important for me, I learned that the
practicing street photographer is an art-making flâneur.... Anyone
interested in Paris or literature associated with Paris will find
The Measure of Paris enjoyable and useful, but for me reading it
was the beginning of an ongoing revelation." Larry E. Fink, May 18,
2014 [Full post at http://finkstreetphotography.com/?p=200]
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