{"product_id":"before-i-was-a-critic-i-was-a-human-being-9781771665056","title":"Before I Was a Critic I Was a Human Being","description":"\u003ci\u003eIn that moment, I felt closer to whiteness than not. I was completely complicit and didn't think twice about entering a space that could cover their walls with images of contemporary Indigenous perspectives, but exclude their physical bodies from entering and experiencing. In that moment, I felt like a real Canadian. \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBefore I Was a Critic I Was a Human Being is the debut collection of creative nonfiction essays by Amy Fung. In it, Fung takes a closer examination at Canada's mythologies of multiculturalism, settler colonialism, and identity through the lens of a national art critic. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eFollowing the tangents of a foreign-born perspective and the complexities and complicities in participating in ongoing acts of colonial violence, the book as a whole takes the form of a very long land acknowledgement. Taken individually, each essay roots itself in the learning and unlearning process of a first generation settler immigrant as she unfurls each region's sense of place and identity. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eBefore I Was a Critic I Was a Human Being\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cb\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The hours I've spent with this knowing and moving book about place and placelessness are among the most valuable of my reading life. Wow, thank you, Amy.\" --Eileen Myles \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"As an Indigenous\/Haudenosaunee writer and reader, I recognize that Amy Fung's book does not try to convince us that she is a native rights ally but shows us with language how to mould the term ally into a verb.\" --Janet Rogers, author of \u003ci\u003eTotem Poles and Railroads\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"In this compelling work, Amy Fung breathes life and relevance into criticality...This visitor's guide is integral reading.\" --Cecily Nicholson, author of \u003ci\u003eWayside Sang\u003c\/i\u003e, winner of the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Book*hug\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/15\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781771665056\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 192\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.50lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.90h x 5.10w x 0.70d","brand":"Amy Fung","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":36668341616796,"sku":"9781771665056","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/products\/img_fa77ea0a-5eb4-4965-b2ec-f70929b9e3b1.jpg?v=1603917286","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/before-i-was-a-critic-i-was-a-human-being-9781771665056","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}