The writer and bestselling author Michael Harris discusses his new book All We Want: Building the Life We Cannot Buy (Doublerday, 2021), with Joseph Planta.

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All We Want: Building the Life We Cannot Buy by Michael Harris (Doubleday, 2021). Click to buy this book from Amazon.ca: All We Want

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Text of introduction by Joseph Planta:

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

Michael Harris joins me again. He recently published a new book All We Want: Building the Life We Cannot Buy. Like his previous books, it’s an engaging look at life and the society we live in today, and what’s sustainable for the future. In this book, he begins by looking at the endless consumption plaguing our society. Then the book gets back to basics as it were, as Mr. Harris seeks the meaning we need by understanding craft, as well as the outdoors, and beauty. Then the author reflects on life through the understanding of care. He wonders what his later years will be like, as he discusses his husband’s mother’s dementia. It’s often hectic and frustrating, but Michael finds the sublime. The book looks at what’s untenable and unsustainable in society, but it also seeks to find what lasts and what endures in life itself, especially the one we cultivate with ourselves and those closest to us. Michael Harris is the bestselling author of The End of Absence, and Solitude. The former received the Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction, and was longlisted for a slew of book prizes. The latter was also a national bestseller, and was longlisted for the RBC Taylor Prize. He first appeared on the program when that book was published in 2017. He is a faculty member in the Literary Journalism program at the Banff Centre, and the writer of the award-winning podcast Command Line Heroes. The website for more is at www.MichaelJohnHarris.com. This new book is published by Doubleday. We taped this interview nearly a month ago. Please welcome back to the Planta: On the Line program, Michael Harris; Mr. Harris, good morning.

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