“It’s only fitting that a city with so many unlikely facets—its conspicuous wealth and conspicuously ignored poverty, its inscrutable WASPiness and inscrutable Asian-ness, its left-wing face and right-wing heart—should be both celebrated and excoriated by a writer with such multifarious abilities. Taking Vancouver on one neighbourhood at a time, Charles Demers examines his hometown from both the tender filter of personal history and a wider, socio-historical point-of-view. A comedian, political activist, and novelist, Demers writes so well about Vancouver because his essays are like the city at its best: open-minded, compassionate, and never boring.”

—Kevin Chong

“A lot of people have tried to explain Vancouver. But to do justice to a place so blithe yet smug, weird yet eager to please, good willed yet tough on poor folks, well, you’d need a hilarious stand-up-comic who also happens to have laser beam powers of social criticism. Fortunately we have that guy. Charles Demers. And sure enough, he nails this city, cold.”

—David Beers, editor of The Tyee

Vancouver Special takes an unflinching and often hilarious look at the city, alternating between touching personal recollection and observational humour that seems tailor-made for a comedy set.

—Steven Schelling, Westender

Unlike, Douglas Coupland’s City of Glass—which was more of an instruction manual to the inside jokes that populate our city—or Vancouver Matters—the city seen through urban planning and architectural choices—Demers has written a mesh of personal and cultural history that aims to dig a bit deeper. Where Coupland was all wit and gloss, Demers isn’t afraid to expose the grit and grime of the city he so obviously loves, pointing out the glaring hypocrisies, inequalities, and insecurities.

—Jake Tobin Garrett, Beyond Robson

Reading Vancouver Special is like catching up with a smart, witty friend who’s proud and aware of the place he calls home. What Demers has accomplished with this book is admirable: it’s an authentic version of Vancouver, a recognizable yet illuminating view of here, from here.

—David Chau, Georgia Straight