The bestselling author John Vaillant discusses his new novel, his first, The Jaguar’s Children (Knopf, 2015), with Joseph Planta.

The Jaguar’s Children by John Vaillant (Knopf, 2015). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: The Jaguar’s Children

Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

I am Planta: On the Line, in Vancouver, at TheCommentary.ca.

John Vaillant joins me again. He’s just published his first novel, The Jaguar’s Children. It’s getting great notices already, and I’ll get him to tell us about the book, and writing fiction, after two highly acclaimed and bestselling non-fiction books. In this novel, we meet Hector, a young Mexican fleeing the country of his birth for the United States. He’s paid to get smuggled across the border in an empty water tank. We meet the others with him, and get to know him, his life, his story, and his ancestors as well. The book is told in a particularly fascinating way, which I’ll get Mr. Vaillant to tell us about. His two previous books were The Golden Spruce, and The Tiger, both big bestsellers, and both multiple prize winners. His writing also appears in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Walrus, and National Geographic, among other notable publications. The website for more is at www.johnvaillant.com. The book is published by Knopf. He’ll be appearing with our friends at the Vancouver Writers Fest, 11 February 2015 at 7.30pm at the Central Branch of the Vancouver Public Library. The event is free, and part of the fantastic Incite series. [Also, John will be appearing 19 February 2015 at Pulp Fiction Books, 2422 Main Street, Vancouver at 7.00pm.] Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, John Vaillant; Mr. Vaillant, good morning.

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