The 5 books that saved David A. Robertson's life
The Winnipeg writer shares his life in books on The Next Chapter
Picking favourites can be very challenging for many book lovers — but for prize-winning author David A. Robertson, it's a question he's always excited to answer.
"I like doing stuff like that," he told Antonio Michael Downing on The Next Chapter. "I'm a list guy. This is right up my alley. It's my bag."
Robertson, a member of the Norway House Cree Nation, has written 30 books for both children and adults. His most recent work is All The Little Monsters, a memoir in which he opens up about his experiences with anxiety as a way to accept and heal.
In honour of its release, he joined Downing to share the stories that shaped his life and writing and have helped him feel less alone.
"I would say that in many ways, art has saved my life, including these works of literature," he said.
Nine Stories by J.D. Salinger
J.D. Salinger's short story collection Nine Stories is a formative book for Robertson — so much so that he carries it around with him wherever he goes.
"I have it in my backpack," he said. "I actually have multiple copies too, because I sometimes give it away or lend it out for other people to read."
Robertson cited Salinger as one of his inspirations while working on his short story collection, The Evolution of Alice.
"I just found myself absorbing so much of his storytelling techniques, structure, voice, and the incredibly subtle but powerful ways that he worked towards the climax of these stories in such a short amount of time."
Robertson's favourite story of the collection is called A Perfect Day for Banana Fish and features a phone conversation between a woman and her mom, a young boy playing on the beach, and an unexpected ending.
"It's like this huge, surprising, shocking ending that you don't really see coming," he said.
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living by Dale Carnegie
Another important book for Robertson is the 1948 self-help book by the late American writer Dale Carnegie, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.
"[Carnegie] had a very analytical way of approaching mental health struggles, in particular anxiety, and it spoke to me in a way that I needed to hear because one of the interventions for me among many is this ability to look at your anxiety objectively and really to rationalize it," he said.
Robertson came across the title during a frantic Google search when he was experiencing a mental health breakdown — and he listened to the audiobook during his son's hockey practices.
"It's become such an important text for me and how I'm able to sometimes do the same thing that he instructed in this story — try to rationalize your anxiety so that you can live with it better."
Swing Low by Miriam Toews
Canadian writer Miriam Toews is one of Robertson's favourite living writers — and her book Swing Low really resonated with him.
In Swing Low, Toews writes her father's memoir after he dies by suicide. Telling the story from his perspective, she recounts his diagnosis with bipolar disorder at age 17, his psychiatrist's grim prediction for his life, and how he overcame that to marry his high school sweetheart, have three daughters and become a teacher for 40 years.
"We all have this kind of similarity in our struggles when we have mental health that I was able to find healing," said Robertson. "That book, even though it's a profoundly sad book, it's also profoundly beautiful."
"It's this power of story and it's how when we share our stories, we realize that even though we think we're alone, we're not as alone as we thought we are and I think that is the healing power of stories, especially within the context of mental health."
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
Perhaps best known for his bestselling middle-grade fantasy series the Misewa Saga, Robertson was inspired by Tom's Midnight Garden's approach to time travel when crafting his own novels.
Tom's Midnight Garden tells the story of a boy named Tom who's quarantined with the measles. He's bored in his flat with nothing to do, but when the clock strikes 13, he can open the back door to this beautiful garden that isn't there in the so-called "real world." He goes there every night and meets a girl named Hattie at all different times in her life — and they develop an amazing friendship.
"It's just like the construct of it, the storytelling, the beautiful way in which this friendship develops and how Philipa Pearce plays with time travel is really familiar, but also incredibly unique."
An Anthology of Monsters by Cherie Dimaline
"I love, first of all, that Cherie and I both describe our anxiety as a monster that lives with us, but she connects this experience with living with this monster to stories," said Robertson.
In An Anthology of Monsters, Cherie Dimaline explores her experience with anxiety and how the stories we tell ourselves can help us reshape the ways in which we think, cope and survive. She uses examples from her books, her mother and her own life to reveal how to collect and curate stories to elicit difficult and beautiful conversations. She also reflects on how family and community can be a source of strength and a place of refuge.
"When we share [stories] about these little monsters, it makes them seem smaller and smaller. The hope that we have in overcoming them gets bigger and bigger because that building of community through story is so important."
Robertson's comments have been edited for length and clarity.
