If you haven't read anything by David Bergen, and you appreciate CanLit, I suggest you look him up. I was introduced to his writing in Leaving Tomorrow, and for this harsh critic the novel ticked all the boxes.

David demonstrates his ability as a writer through his flawless plot, intriguing and believable characters, his attention to environmental and cultural detail, and his use of language. This is a masterful work which examines the profound ties of relationships and social expectations.

Recommended. ( )

Extremely polished, kinda populist novel, though a good deal more sophisticated than that. I somehow expected it to be inward and introspective (had heard of David Bergen from the Giller prize) and it was to some extent, but it was also very vibrant in its description of the respective worlds of Western Canadian provincial life and wanna-be Parisian bohemian life. A coming-of-age story extending from an austere of Canadian upbringing through a young man's projection of what constitutes refinement and intellectual aesthetic awareness. Found the lustful yearnings squirm-worthy and maybe bourgeois pandering, but I liked the easy flow of the language. It both accessible and technically refined, a combination I always like plus he's from my hometown! ( )

David Bergen is a Canadian author who has won the Giller Prize and has been shortlisted for other Can Lit prizes, so I was eager to read his new book, Leaving Tomorrow. I have read a couple of his other novels and very much enjoyed them. Leaving Tomorrow did not disappoint.

This is a coming of age story. Young Arthur is born into an interesting family. His mother is of the Mennonite faith, though this aspect does not figure prominently in the story. Mom Doreen is a nurse and a practical , strong person. Dad is a non- Mennonite man, a rancher and a keen reader. Arthur grows up in small town called Tomorrow, which is south of Calgary Alberta. He is small of stature, intelligent , curious and more than a bit of a dreamer. Arthur's older brother, Bev, is an angry fellow who usually chooses to act rather than think.

Arthur is interested in the life of Gustave Flaubert , among other authors, so at the age of 19, he arranges to to go to France for a year. There he tutors a young boy in the English Language, while pursuing his romantic dreams of living in France.

David Bergen is a wonderful writer , and fills out each character fully and sensitively. Arthur's adopted cousin , Isobel, arrives in France and observes to Arthur: " You're pale and thin and diminished. This is not you. If you want to be true to yourself, Arthur, if you want to tell a true story, it is not the story of a young artist who comes to Paris, and finds a lover and visits the haunts of famous dead writers. That is trite. Your story is back home". page 213

A wonderful and hopeful story of the maturing of a young man.

4 stars. ( )

This book was recommended to me, so I decided to give it a try. I'm not sure that I liked it all that much, but it is well-written so therefore I've given it 3 stars. Bergen is a Giller prize winning author for his book The Time In-Between which I read 3 or 4 years ago. There are similarities to this book as Bergen talks about the Vietnam war and he also explores someone who is suffering from post-traumatic stress. He did this in The Time In-Between as well, but I think he did a better job of it then. This book is a coming-of-age novel about young Arthur Wohlegmuht, a young Alberta Mennonite boy. Arthur is a thoughtful young man, but he also has an inflated opinion of his own worth. Rather than looking for and falling in love with real women who live, laugh and cry, he puts all the women he meets on a pedestal and attempts to worship at their feet. As you can imagine this doesn't go well with the women, and Aruthur finds himself perpetually being set aside. And does Arthur seem to learn from all this as he travels around Alberta and Paris where he goes to live for a year? No, he doesn't. He doesn't seem to mature or change much at all. ( )