Village of the Small Houses: A Memoir of Sorts [Audiobook, CD] [Audio CD]

Ian Ferguson (Author, Narrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 28, 2005

Ian Ferguson won the 2004 Leacock Medal for Humor for this outrageously funny book about growing up destitute in the far north. Beginning with the dramatic events surrounding his birth (including a paddlewheel ferry heading for destruction, a legendary rowboat trip, and a life-and-death race against time), the richly recalled events of Ferguson’s life and a vivid cast of loveable misfits make for a taut and appealingly idiosyncratic tale. In 1959, just one step ahead of the law, Hank Ferguson (the Ferguson brothers’ con-artist dad” headed north in a beat-up two-toned 1953 Mercury Zephyr with his pregnant wife, Louise. He got as far as remote Fort Vermilion. Passing himself off as a teacher at the local “Indian school,” he settled his ever-expanding family in what was then Canada’s third poorest community — an isolated aboriginal village where plumbing and electricity were unheard of and luck seemed reserved for Whites only. In this spirited reading, originally broadcast on CBC Radio in September 2004, Ian Ferguson’s gifts as a comic actor rise exuberantly to the fore. Winner of an Audiophile Earphones Award, mixing truth and fiction with feckless abandon, Village of the Small Houses exists somewhere between Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes and W. O. Mitchell’s Who Has Seen the Wind.

Editorial Reviews

Review

You’ll laugh so hard while reading this book that you will temporarily be distracted from the bleakness between the lines. -- The Edmonton Journal

From the Back Cover

Village of the Small Houses is Ian Ferguson’s hilariously offbeat account of growing up poor in the far north. In 1959, just one step ahead of the law, Ferguson’s con-artist dad, Hank, headed north in a beat-up Mercury Zephyr with his pregnant wife, Louise. He got as far as isolated Fort Vermilion, where he passed himself off as a teacher at the “Indian school” and settled his ever-expanding family in a house without plumbing or electricity. Ferguson’s gifts as a comic actor and writer come to the fore in this spirited reading of his best-selling memoir about a scrappy northern childhood. Interweaving truth and fiction, and introducing a cast of lovable misfits, this tenderly amusing chronicle is a cross between Angela’s Ashes and W.O. Mitchell’s Who Has Seen the Wind.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: BTC Audiobooks; No edition edition (February 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0864923953
• ISBN-13: 978-0864923950
• Product Dimensions: 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,587,917 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A memorable case of growing up among lovable misfits, June 11, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Village of the Small Houses: A Memoir of Sorts (Audio CD)

Written and narrated by author Ian Ferguson, Village Of The Small Houses: A Memoir Of Sorts is an hilarious and highly recommended account of growing up poor in the far north when in 1959, just ahead of the law, Ferguson's con-artist father Hank headed up north in a delapidated Mercury Zephyr with his pregnant wife, Louise. Hank got as far as isolated Fort Vermilion where he passed himself off as a teacher at the "Indian school" and settled his ever-expanding family in a house devoid of plumbing and electricity. The lively recounting of a scrappy childhood, Ferguson interweaves truth, tall-tale exag-geration, and a memorable case of growing up among lovable misfits in this 2 CD, 2 1/2 hour autobiographical account.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant!, October 13, 2004

By 

Book Smart (Edmonton, Alberta CANADA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Village of the Small Houses: A Memoir of Sorts (Paperback)

I loved every page of this book. The writing is excellent and the story flows really well. There are so many moving moments in this book that I shed a tear on a number of occassions. I also laughed my head off quite a bit. What more can one ask of a memoir? Well done Ian!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Small houses-big characters, October 11, 2004

By 

Sand "Arena" (France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Village of the Small Houses: A Memoir of Sorts (Paperback)

I read Ian Fergusons `biography of sorts` on a recent visit to Canada.The book was un-put-down-able,such well shaped characters,such wonderfully evoked scenery. Full of humour and pathos. When does the movie come out?