Posted in: Comics, Current News | Tagged: barack obama, canada, ducks, kate beaton

Kate Beaton's Ducks Was The Biggest Selling Canadian Book In 2023

The biggest-selling book in 2023 from a Canadian publisher was Kate Beaton's graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years In The Oil Sands

Published Sat, 06 Apr 2024 08:57:09 -0500

by Rich Johnston

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Article Summary

Kate Beaton's graphic memoir 'Ducks' tops 2023 Canadian sales.
'Ducks' acclaimed by Obama, winner of Canada Reads 2023.
Drawn & Quarterly published the bestselling Canadian book.
The work explores oil sands life with Beaton's trademark artistry.

According to new research released by BookNet Canada, an organization which compiles sales and other data about Canadian publishing, the biggest-selling book in 2023 from a Canadian-owned publisher was Kate Beaton's graphic memoir Ducks: Two Years In The Oil Sands, published by Drawn & Quarterly. Named one of Barack Obama's favourite books of 2022,it also won Canada Reads, a television book-based reality show, in 2023. And Bleeding Cool was the first to run its cover back in 2021.

"Before there was Kate Beaton, New York Times bestselling cartoonist of Hark A Vagrant, there was Katie Beaton of the Cape Breton Beatons, a tight-knit seaside community. After university, Katie heads out west to take advantage of Alberta's oil rush, part of the long tradition of East Coast Canadians who seek gainful employment elsewhere when they can't find it in the homeland they love so much. With the singular goal of paying off her student loans, what the journey will actually cost Katie will be far more than she anticipates. Arriving in Fort McMurray, Katie finds work in the lucrative camps owned and operated by the world's largest oil companies. As one of the few women among thousands of men, the culture shock is palpable. It does not hit home until she moves to a spartan, isolated worksite for higher pay. Katie encounters the harsh reality of life in the oil sands where trauma is an everyday occurrence yet never discussed. For young Katie, her wounds may never heal. Beaton's natural cartooning prowess is on full display as she draws colossal machinery and mammoth vehicles set against a sublime Albertan backdrop of wildlife, Northern Lights, and Rocky Mountains. Her first full length graphic narrative, Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands is an untold story of Canada: a country that prides itself on its egalitarian ethos and natural beauty while simultaneously exploiting both the riches of its land and the humanity of its people."