FINALIST - Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Non-Fiction (2012)
FINALIST - Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction (2012)
FINALIST - Governor General's Literary Award - Non-Fiction (2012)
FINALIST - BC Book Prize's Hubert Evans Non-Fiction Prize (2012)
A son's decision to alter his father's last surviving suit for himself
is the launching point for this powerful book - part personal memoir,
part social history of the man's suit - about fathers and sons, love and
forgiveness, and learning what it means to be a man.
For years, journalist and amateur tailor JJ Lee tried to ignore the suit
hanging at the back of his closet. It was his father's suit. But when JJ
decides to make the suit his own, little does he know he is about to
embark on a journey to understand his own past.
As JJ cuts into the jacket, he begins to piece together the story of his
relationship with his father, a charismatic but troubled Montreal
restauranteur whose demons brought tumult upon his family. JJ also
recounts his own ups and downs during the year he spent as an apprentice
at Modernize Tailors - the last of the great Chinatown suitmakers in
Vancouver - where, under the tutelage of his octogenarian master tailor,
he learns invaluable lessons about life. Woven throughout JJ's tale are
stories of the suit's own evolution, illuminating how this humble
garment has, for centuries, been the surprising battleground for the war
between generations.
Written with great wit, bracing honesty, and narrative verve, and
featuring line drawings throughout by the author, The Measure of a Man
is an unforgettable story of love, forgiveness, and discovering what it
means to be your own man.
