National Network for Equitable Library Service

Brian Busby's 'The Dusty Bookcase' explores the fascinating world of Canada's lesser-known literary history: works that suffered censorship, critical neglect, or brilliant yet fleeting notoriety. These rare and quirky totems of Canadiana, collected over the last three decades, form a travel diary of sorts through books instead of maps. Covering over one hundred books, and peppered with observations on the Canadian writing and publishing scenes, Busby's work explores our cultural past from a unique slant, questioning why certain works, rightfully or otherwise, are celebrated and others ignored. Illustrated throughout with covers and ephemera, 'The Dusty Bookcase' offers up a casual but nonetheless critical and entertaining exploration of Canada's suppressed, ignored, and forgotten literature, and in the process a curious examination of what we read, when we read it, and why.