by JULIET WATERS

In My Own Devices, Montreal writer/publisher/spoken word artist Corey Frost lists the results of an informal poll indicating why his is such a good name for a writer. Of course there’s the Robert Frost cachet, but there’s also the retro ’80s chic of the Coreys Haim, Feldman and Hart. Obviously I like it because it makes a good lead for a winter preview. Part Dave Eggers, part Chris Ware, and eight parts Corey Frost, it’s as playful as building a snowman, and not as wet.

Much thought also seems to have been put into the name Jonathan Safran Foer, whose Everything Is Illuminated was also compared to Eggers when it came out in the U.S. last year. Reviews were in-between rave and ecstatic. Look for it in April. And for those who like their names more manly, how about Con Coughlin? The British Middle East expert’s biography, Saddam—King of Terror, should get the blood boiling no matter what the climate this season, environmental or political.

Duking it out for winter’s weirdest title, there’s Diary of a Djinn by Gini Alhadeff vs. Doodaaa! The Balletic Act of Gavin Twinge: a Triography by Ralph Steadman. Alhadeff’s first novel’s been getting much buzz, both for the quality of her writing and as an exposé of her ex-employer Giorgio Armani. Steadman, a great writer in his own right, may be best known for his illustrations of Hunter S. Thompson’s infamous Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. As it turns out, Thompson’s also coming out with an autobiography, Kingdom of Fear. Don’t get it mixed up with Hussein’s.

Frosty fiction

Winter and early spring is the season for new faces of Canadian fiction. Mercy by Alissa York looks like a potential epic blockbuster to rival huge fiction debuts like those of Anne Michaels and Ann-Marie MacDonald. A Hard Witching, short stories by Saskatchewan writer Jacqueline Baker has been compared to Alistair MacLeod. Ex-Montrealer, now Toronto native, Michel Basiliere’s promising first novel Blackbird is set during the October crisis. While local Montreal writer, Neale McDevitt sets his collection of short stories, One Day Even Trevi Will Crumble in lower NDG, where’s he’s lived all his life, God bless him. Those looking for a more established Canadian writer can’t go wrong with Barbara Gowdy’s The Romantic, which promises to be as dark, funny and bizarre as her work usually is.

On the international scene, there’s young Brit, Nicola Barker, whose Behindlings has been compared to Martin Amis and Joe Orton. Ray Bradbury isn’t exactly a new voice, but the sci-fi master’s third noir novel, Let’s All Kill Cons-tance, might kill a dull February night. The biggest American book of the season will no doubt be Don DeLillo’s Cosmopolis. DeLillo takes on an April day in the life of a 28-year-old billionaire asset manager. Expect something very dark, existential and brilliant. For a female existential noir voice, Heather Dune Macadam’s The Weeping Buddha looks interesting.

If you’re starting to feel a little weepy yourself, don’t fight those February blues. Deepen them with Ye Zhaoyan’s recently translated Nanjing 1937: A Love Story. Set on the eve of the Rape of Nanjing, Zhaoyan’s been compared to Dostoevsky at his most powerful and, also, funniest. There’s also the new translation of Gil Courtemanche’s Quebec bestseller, A Sunday at the Pool in Ki-gali, a love story set in Rwanda.

Once you’ve had your fill of death, you’ll be really ready for taxes. PBS financial guru, David Bach has revised his American bestsellers for Canadian readers, Smart Women Finish Rich, and for Valentine’s Day, Smart Couples Finish Rich. Of course some smart women may prefer a different strategy for dealing with the financial blues. Like Playing With the Big Boys: A Woman’s Guide to Poker by Laura A. Van Vleet and G.L Norris. But for those who prefer to reserve February for obsessing over love, I’m very much enjoying Carina Chocano’s Do You Love Me Or Am I Just Paranoid? The Serial Monogamist’s Guide to Love. Disguised as a lame self-help/humour book, this is actually a quite devastating and hilarious satire of contemporary romance by the Salon.com TV critic, who’s also a contributor to The New Yorker and Bust. Read it now, then keep it in your medicine cabinet for spring fever. :