The Education of Augie Merasty, Joseph Auguste Merasty
The Education of Augie Merasty, Joseph Auguste Merasty
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The Education of Augie Merasty

Author: Joseph Auguste Merasty, David Carpenter

Narrator: Lorne Cardinal

Unabridged: 3 hr 4 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: ECW Press

Published: 03/15/2022


Synopsis

Named the fourth most important “Book of the Year” by the National Post in 2015 and voted “One Book/One Province” in Saskatchewan for 2017, The Education of Augie Merasty launched on the front page of The Globe and Mail to become a national bestseller and an instant classic. A courageous and intimate memoir, The Education of Augie Merasty is the story of a child who faced the dark heart of humanity, let loose by the cruel policies of a bigoted nation.A retired fisherman and trapper who sometimes lived rough on the streets, Augie Merasty was one of an estimated 150,000 First Nations, Inuit, and Metis children who were taken from their families and sent to government-funded, church-run schools, where they were subjected to a policy of aggressive assimilation. As Augie recounts, these schools did more than attempt to mould children in the ways of white society. They were taught to be ashamed of their heritage and, as he experienced, often suffered physical and sexual abuse.But even as he looks back on this painful part of his childhood, Merasty's sense of humour and warm voice shine through.“In this book I have seen horror through eyes of a child.” — James Daschuk, author of Clearing the Plains “A story in which our entire nation has an obscure and dark complicity.” — David Carpenter, co-author of The Education of Augie Merasty and author of The Gold and other books Bespeak Audio Editions brings Canadian voices to the world with audiobook editions of some of the country’s greatest works of literature, performed by Canadian actors.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Andrew on April 09, 2015

A very odd book to rate. Very small, no traditional narrative structure or style. It's an edited collection of letters and interviews smoothed out and turned into a single account of the Residential Schools. If anything, this is a book that will be studied. It's a primary source document rather than......more

Goodreads review by Shawn on February 11, 2017

Now in his late 80s, Auguste Merasty was 5 when he entered a residential school for indigenous kids in northern Saskatchewan. During his years there, he endured and witnessed horrific abuse and racism, all sanctioned by the church and the government. The point of the schools was to teach the Indian......more

Goodreads review by Djj on October 22, 2015

I want to be very clear: this book has two sections. The plainly told, and the more horrifying for it, memoir of Augie Merasty's time in a residential school in the 1930s. And a lengthy introduction and brief coda by the editor, David Carpenter. Merasty's section, edited by Carpenter is heart wrench......more

Goodreads review by Kris (My Novelesque Life) on December 18, 2017

RATING: 3 STARS (I received an ARC from the NETGALLEY in exchange for an honest review.) (Not On Blog) I picked this book up at the library as I have always been interested in knowing more about Aboriginal culture. Growing up in Canada, we did hear about Residential schools and the horrors behind it. I......more

Goodreads review by RKanimalkingdom on August 27, 2018

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. I cannot put a rating on someone’s life. It’s their life, how can you give it a rating? This book is one of the only books where the Introduction and Conclusion are the important parts of the novel. That’s due to the fact that we, through these parts, see th......more