About the Book
Phantom Lake explores the stories, legends, and tall tales that make up "Flin Flon," a real imaginary place perched on rocky outcrops and lakes of the Canadian Shield. Birk Sproxton traverses the high latitudes of Manitoba and Saskatchewan in a quest for the mystery of Flin Flon and in search of himself. The northern stories, like Shield Lakes seen from the air, become ink-blots to test the writer's mettle. Sproxton tells of the first gold rush, the draining of Flin Flon Lake, the emergence of the open pit, smelter smoke and slag pour, headframes, and tailings ponds. At the center of this fictional and historical mosaic lies the elusive Phantom Lake.
Table of Contents:
Imaginary Lines: Shield Notes; From Athapap to Flin Flon; Flin Flon, a Hero Among Heroes; Smelter Smoke; The Wicked River and Dreams of Gold; Gold Rush; Love Story; Flin Flon Lake; Phantom Lake; Mush; Hard Hat; Phantom Lake, December 1996; The Grassy River and Dreams of Gold; The Hanson Lake Road Begins in Smeaton; On the Road to Love; Sleeping Beauties.
About the Author :
Born on the edge of a lake in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Birk Sproxton currently lives in the heart of the Alberta greenbelt, where he teaches Canadian Literature and Creative Writing at Red Deer College.
Review :
Manitoban Birk Sproxton (who lives in Alberta) has written an engaging memoir, Phantom Lake, about growing up in northern Manitoba, in which he mingles family issues with the literature about the landscape in a thoroughly postmodern telling. He illustrates how the literature about a place itself becomes a part of the place, influencing the local people's perception of their home. Sharon Butala, quoted from her book Lilac Moon: Dreaming of the Real West, Toronto, Harper Collins, 2005 "This is a personal essay and a biography of place: based on local history, narratives of explorers and furtraders, oral histories; tourist brochures, formal studies, magazine and newspaper clippings; scientific geological studies (with photos, diagrams, and maps), fiction and online sources. So, it is not surprising that quasihistorical figures appear, such as Kathleen Rice, a prospector and Joseph Burr Tyrell, a geologist (who used maps drawn by David Thompson and also edited narratives by both Thompson and Samuel Hearne)...In this book of creative nonfiction, the author uses a form that works with facts, then sets them in play, with and against each other. The result is counterpoint or contrapuntal, in which the central idea serves as a foil for other ideas and values. In this manner, there is space made for new versions, other versions; taking stories into a new realm, which avoids traditional limitations." Anne Burke, Prairie Journal of Canadian Literature, October, 2005 Red Deer author Birk Sproxtons book Phantom Lake: North of 54 offers a layered exploration of Flin Flon, Manitoba that brilliantly reveals how stories, personal and public, form the bedrock of a place. [The book] is a magpie nest of stories about Flin Flon, a re-mythologizing of the near North...a moving contemplation of a place as experienced over time. Christopher Wiebe, VUE Weekly, Dec. 29-Jan. 4, 2006 Once the cover of Phantom Lake was closed, I tried to figure out just what kind of book I had just read. Yet Sproxtons often lyrical style of writing left me with the most amazing mental images of the northern landscapes. Phantom Lake: North of 54, I finally decided, is a Canadian story and its pure poetry. Susan Jones, The St. Albert Gazette, Dec. 28, 2005, p. 41 [Birk Sproxton] has made the legends, stories and mysteries of an isolated northern Manitoba community come to life in a newly released book. Hes gifted with a striking ability to paint with words; readers will conjure up vivid pictures in their minds of the scenes and folks he describes throughout the book. From the start, he wanted to tap into a multi-layered exploration of the area, including a range of historical glimpses. Mark Weber, Red Deer Express, Dec. 7, 2005 You can take the boy out of Flin Flon but you cant take Flin Flon out of the boy. No one illustrates that better than Birk Sproxton, whose latest book, Phantom Lake: North of 54, stars an unnamed narrator who cant resist delving into the rich past of the Flin Flon region.Its based on true stories, but then I take license with some of them, he says. Phantom Lake can be described as a vivid trip back to an era of fur trading, wide-eyed prospectors, open pit mines and industrial smoke so strong it ripped our throats. Birk Sproxton is only too happy to take readers along on his journey of self discovery. Jonathan Naylor, The Reminder (Flin Flon, Manitoba) February 3, 2006. Sproxton explores the areas myths, legends, people, and history in Phantom Lake. He interweaves personal memories of family with presentday investigations, and meditations with stories of colourful characters from literature and life. Readers gain an understanding of not only the physical place, but also the emotional complexity of the people of Flin Flon and Phantom Lake. This is very much a Canadian book about traveling to the lake in summer...says Sproxton. Paula E, Kirman, Prairie Books NOW, Spring 2005.
