Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands: One of Barack Obama’s Favourite Books of 2022

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I was hesitant to read this graphic novel thinking it might have a lot of horrible things happening to animals in the oil sands. Devastating. Despite the brutal toll Beaton suffered personally, she has woven from her experience a vast and complex tapestry that captures the humanity of people doing a kind of "dirty work" in which we are all complicit, and it shimmers with grace. Alison Bechdel, author of Fun Home As soon as I heard Kate Beaton was working on a memoir detailing her time in Northern Alberta, I was counting down the days until I could read it. While I do not know Kate personally, we’re the same age, we are both from Cape Breton and we were both in Fort McMurray around the same time (I arrived in 2007 and left in 2009).

Kate Beaton on ‘We had to leave home for a better future’: Kate Beaton on

Not an excuse, no. But it shows that people are shaped by their environment and, in a less than stellar one, might act in ways they normally wouldn't. She didn't demonize all men because of her experience there but at the same time she showed how women suffer in toxic male environments - and are expected to just "deal with it" and not complain. At times the narrative is a little choppy the large cast starts to blur together, but the book held my attention throughout, making me so mad and sad and sympathetic. Known primarily as the creator of the web-based comic series “Hark! A Vagrant,” Beaton moves to memoir with this examination of the two years she spent working in the oil sands to pay off her student loans. The author begins with an introduction to her home in Cape Breton, where the people have “a deep love for home, and the knowledge of how frequently they will have to leave it to find work somewhere else. This push and pull defines us. It’s all over our music, our literature, our art, and our understanding of our place in the world.” On the surface, the book is a chronicle of the three years following the author’s college graduation (she also spent a year working at the Maritime Museum of British Columbia), but Beaton captures much more than her personal story. She delves deep into the milieu of Fort McMurray, highlighting the complex relationships among the work camps, the oil companies, and the people living and working there. As the author recounts her time through several jobs, companies, and locations, she alternates the narration between the daily grind of the workers and the vistas of startling beauty surrounding them. She introduces each section by location and includes a list of the characters by job and home province, and she is careful to incorporate issues related to the local Indigenous peoples. After all, she writes, “the oil sands operate on stolen land.” Beaton captures numerous poignant, sometimes heartbreaking moments throughout the book, but the cumulative effect of her many stories is even more impressive. She creates an indelible portrait of environmental degradation, fraught interpersonal relationships among a workforce largely disconnected from home, and greedy corporations that seem only vaguely aware of the difficult work’s effect on their employees.She watches a TV broadcast featuring a local Cree elder where the people suffer from a high cancer rate. " Everything is ruined; our lives around our lands are ruined, our water, air, everything. At the cost of our lives as long as they get their money. They don't care how many they kill." In this "man's world", she put up with a whole lot of crap. It was terrible. At the same time, I appreciate how she points out that it was the place they were in and the circumstances that made the men act this way. In the afterword, Katie Beaton is incredibly generous sharing about her experience from working in the oil sands between the years 2005 to 2008–(for 2 years). I'm from the other side of the island Kate Beaton grew up on and I'm living not terribly far from where most of this book is set. My experiences have been different, of course, but everything Beaton writes rings true. You notice it in the little things: buildings that look familiar, or that you realize looked like that in the years her story was taking place, or the way she draws certain documents, or realizing you might have a very vague connection to one of the people who die in an accident in the book, and then that sense of nailing it extends outward to the issues she's covering. There's a landscape drawing of Cape Breton early in the book that looks like a photo that hangs on my mother's wall, except they're from two slightly different angles.

Ducks - Penguin Books UK

That hopeful emblem points to a happy ending of sorts. Beaton paid off her loan and returned to her beloved Cape Breton. Her impressive career will be propelled still further by this engrossing and powerful memoir. Another author might have made their creative journey a bigger part of this story, but Beaton uses her considerable skills to focus on the wider picture: big oil, and the community that makes a living from it. Her exposé is damning, but full of humanity. This book was beautiful, harrowing, moving and educational all at once, and it is an absolute masterclass on what can be done with the graphic novel format. An absolute must-read. a b Hodge, Nathan (11 March 2009). "Web Comic Artist Redraws Military History". Danger Room. Wired.com . Retrieved 28 March 2009. I'm proud of how I did. To get to play Jeopardy! one time, one game, is such a huge honour and is a life highlight for most people who get to do it. So the fact I've now gotten to play, in total, 26 games of Jeopardy!, a 24-2 record is something I am pretty happy with," Roach told The National in November, shortly after their record-setting Jeopardy! run ended. "I had so much fun."

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Milligan, Mercedes (17 March 2022). "Trailer: Kate Beaton's 'Pinecone & Pony' Charges to Apple TV+". Kate Beaton and I are the same age, and we hit the indy comics scene at roughly the same time. Like everyone else in the world I became a fan of her work - the funny historical stuff and the (also funny, but serious too) autobio stuff. We made friends, another one of those weird internet friendships that feels both intangible and invaluable.

Ducks by Kate Beaton - Penguin Books Australia Ducks by Kate Beaton - Penguin Books Australia

Concerns about oil extraction's environmental pollution and impact on indigenous people are also brought up, but more as side notes needing more exploration. In October 2018, Beaton ended the ongoing serialization of her webcomic, saying, "I feel like this is a project that has run its course." [34] a b c d Salkowitz, Rob (2022-09-27). "Kate Beaton's New Masterpiece Just Rewrote The Standard For Graphic Memoirs". Forbes . Retrieved 2022-11-07. Best Books 2022: Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly". Publishers Weekly . Retrieved 24 October 2022. Top 25 Female Comic Book Artists #15-11 - Comics Should Be Good @ CBR". 25 March 2015 . Retrieved 20 August 2016.I need to tell you this--there is no knowing Cape Breton without knowing how deeply ingrained two diametrically opposed experiences are: A deep love for home, and the knowledge of how frequently we have to leave it to find work somewhere else.’ The author touches a bit upon the environmental impact of the oil sands, but her focus is predominantly on the human impact of living in isolation and being expendable... all to make a decent wage. While I hadn't heard of this before, I doubt I'll be forgetting about it. Any person who thinks these scenarios that women have endured are “made-up” or embellished are either delusional or very sheltered. Beth Dunn. "Interview with Kate Beaton". Bethdunn.org. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013 . Retrieved 17 February 2012.