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Late Nights on Air Audiobook
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(3.00) - 3,734 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
The Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning novel from Elizabeth Hay. Harry Boyd, a hard-bitten refugee from failure in Toronto television, has returned to a small radio station in the Canadian North. There, in Yellowknife, in the summer of 1975, he falls in love with a voice on air, though the real woman, Dido Paris, is both a surprise and even more than he imagined. Dido and Harry are part of the cast of eccentric, utterly loveable characters, all transplants from elsewhere, who form an unlikely group at the station. Their loves and longings, their rivalries and entanglements, the stories of their pasts and what brought each of them to the North, form the centre. One summer, on a canoe trip four of them make into the Arctic wilderness (following in the steps of the legendary Englishman John Hornby, who, along with his small party, starved to death in the barrens in 1927), they find the balance of love shifting, much as the balance of power in the North is being changed by the proposed Mackenzie Valley gas pipeline, which threatens to displace Native people from their land. With unforgettable characters, vividly evoked settings, in this award–winning novel, Hay brings to bear her skewering intelligence into the frailties of the human heart and her ability to tell a spellbinding story. Written in gorgeous prose, laced with dark humour, Late Nights on Air is Hay’s most seductive and accomplished novel yet. On the shortest night of the year, a golden evening without end, Dido climbed the wooden steps to Pilot’s Monument on top of the great Rock that formed the heart of old Yellowknife. In the Netherlands the light was long and gradual too, but more meadowy, more watery, or else hazier, depending on where you were. . . . Here, it was subarctic desert, virtually unpopulated, and the light was uniformly clear. On the road below, a small man in a black beret was bending over his tripod just as her father used to bend over his tape recorder. Her father’s voice had become the wallpaper inside her skull, he’d made a home for himself there as improvised and unexpected as these little houses on the side of the Rock — houses with histories of instability, of changing from gambling den to barber shop to sheet metal shop to private home, and of being moved from one part of town to another since they had no foundations. —From Late Nights On Air
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"Wonderfully drawn characters kept me interested in this story of the far north. It was also interesting to hear about the inquiry, I was too young to understand this when it was actually happening. The audio recording I listened to was from CBC's Between the Covers and was very well read. "
— Catherine (4 out of 5 stars)
Awards
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Nominated for IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, 2009
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Winner of Scotiabank Giller Prize, 2007
Late Nights on Air Listener Reviews
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" Excellent character development. I wish I could say the same for the plot. "
— Ellen, 2/8/2014 -
" This book is about characters and sence of place. It takes you to the north and pulls you in about half way through the story. A decent read. "
— Bb, 2/6/2014 -
" You have to be Canadian to enjoy this book - a look at the lives of a half-dozen people working at a radio station, presumably CBC, in Yellowknife in the early 70s. While the characters are mildly interesting, the most intriguing aspect of the story is The North itself - geography, climate and culture. "
— Larry, 1/25/2014 -
" Great book about people who work in the radio industry in NWT. Easy read. "
— Betty, 1/24/2014 -
" Great read. Could not put I down. Definitely a Giller prize winner "
— Susan, 1/24/2014 -
" Really loved this book. The talk radio environment in the north was full of wonderful characters. The canoe trip in the 2nd half of the book makes me long a wilderness trip yet fear stepping into a canoe again! "
— Debbie, 1/19/2014 -
" Beautifully, lyrically written. Takes you places you're not sure you are going at the beginning, middle and end, until you get there. Very drawn in by the characters. "
— Emilie, 1/19/2014 -
" One of the more satisfying reads of the summer, Hay's novel takes place in Yellowknife, involving the crew of a local radio station. She delightfully depicts our romantic fascination with voices on air, out of sight. Her characters are flawed but sympathetic, an enjoyable, sad read. "
— Joel, 1/3/2014 -
" This was a very interesting book not a lot going on but kept you reading even to the very end "
— Bjoan, 12/22/2013 -
" This book got good toward the end but it had too many layers for my mind to think about. It would be great for an English Class Book Study. "
— Tracey, 12/13/2013 -
" I loved the account of their canoe trip near Yellowknife. "
— Pam, 12/9/2013 -
" I didn't quite finish this. My mom gave it to me, so I felt like I should give it a try. It was actually surprisingly good, some very cool stuff happening, interesting style. But in the end, I got caught up in the plot and didn't like being dragged along that way, so I stopped. "
— Ken, 12/6/2013 -
" I loved this book. I want to move to this place. Such well developed characters. Rich imagery. And more of the North! Very, very true to what it is like in the Canadian North. This book was made all the better because it was given to me by a dear, dear friend who knows me VERY well. "
— Kathryn, 11/20/2013 -
" I enjoyed the story and loved the writing except for the foreshadowing. Ugh I almost stopped reading it....but the story drew me back. "
— Michele, 11/10/2013 -
" Gave up after picking it up and putting it down dozens of times. Officially the first book I haven't finished. Disliked it immensely! "
— Holly, 9/27/2013 -
" A nice read but not nearly as "exquisite" (at least for me) as the back of the book promised. I did not find the characters terribly "beguiling", nor did I feel like there was any great reveal at the end. I did, however, love her descriptions of the Canadian north. Those WERE compelling. "
— Christine, 9/7/2013 -
" I enjoyed this book more as I got further into the story. It took me a long time from start to finish. "
— Lisanne, 3/27/2013 -
" This is a book that taught me new things about a place I've never been. The characters were interesting but the last chapter it seemed like the author just wanted to finish!! "
— Maratha, 7/2/2012 -
" Great piece of Canadiana! "
— Meaghan, 5/6/2012 -
" This Giller Prize winner is fairly light read. I'd recommend it. "
— Paula, 1/14/2012 -
" I liked the descriptiveness of this book. It was a slow read, with not a lot of character development, but the descriptions of the scenery made up for this. "
— Maggie, 9/17/2011 -
" I just could not get into this book for some reason. I'm not sure why...I heard it was good. I didn't finish it after several tries. "
— Jody, 7/19/2011 -
" Had a hard time keeping all that characters straight and found it very boring and flat. Got about 1/4 of the way through, but it just did not grab my interest and did not finish. I may try again another time, but for now, I was very disappointed. "
— Lori, 5/9/2011 -
" I thought this book was beautifully written and very descriptive, but the story didn't move as quickly as I would have liked. "
— Tara, 5/9/2011 -
" Cdn Author and winner 2007 Giller Award. Interesting characters and setting. Good but not remarkable. "
— Greg, 4/13/2011 -
" A little slow going so far. I couldn't finish it - somehow I couldn't identify with the characters. "
— Jane, 3/15/2011 -
" I liked this book.I learned more about the Yellowknife part of the North. <br/>Sort of had echos of the "Shipping News" for me. <br/>gifted book "
— Jack, 3/14/2011 -
" I was less then impressed with this Giller winner and when put to my book club they thought the same. It seemed to lack the ability to grip you into the story line until near the end - by then it was to late. "
— Karen, 3/12/2011 -
" A fun read full of human foibles, great scenes and scenery, twists and turns and a stunning canoe trip into the past. "
— Jayne, 2/25/2011 -
" I loved this book, it was a great read, and felt like a warm hug on a cold day. "
— Marie, 2/24/2011 -
" This takes place at a small radio station in Canada. There is much interpersonal connections among the employees. Then some people leave, and the others take a trek into the wilderness. None of the things seemed connected to one another. "
— Susan, 1/25/2011 -
" Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay *** Fiction: Various characters in small town in Yukon territories or Northwest Territories work for a local radio station; one of characters does late night show; several end up on a perilous journey. No particular plot; sparse writing style. 5/09 "
— Darryl, 1/24/2011 -
" I finished the book but it was not a novel that I gobbled up or couldn't wait to get back to. A good Canadian bit on the North and Radio. "
— Marlene, 1/20/2011 -
" The first half I found to be very evocative...but the second half felt like wading through treacle. I wish I could have enjoyed it more... "
— Daniel, 1/19/2011 -
" A wonderful and beautifully written story. Descriptions of a part of Canada few of us will know personally and characters who become part of our life, however briefly. "
— David, 1/19/2011
About Elizabeth Hay
Elizabeth Hay’s latest novel, Late Nights on Air, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and has been an enormous national bestseller. Her other works include A Student of Weather(finalist for The Giller Prize and the Ottawa Book Award), Garbo Laughs (winner of the Ottawa Book Award and a finalist for the Governor General’s Award) and Small Change(stories). In 2002, she received the prestigious Marian Engel Award. Elizabeth Hay lives in Ottawa.