One Red Paperclip

This fun adventure by young Canadian "instant Internet celebrity" Kyle MacDonald chronicles his hair-brained quest to trade one red paperclip for something bigger and better until he ultimately achieves his goal: trading for a house! In July 2005 he made his first trade. His blog captured the attention of the online community and shortly after that, his adventure captured the imagination of the mainstream media. The resulting publicity propelled his trades to higher heights, and by July 2006 made it possible for him to achieve his goal.

(The trades: paperclip for fish pen, fish pen for doorknob, doorknob for old camp stove...and he's off and running...)

The book fleshes out the backstory on all the trades Kyle made and even some that he didn't. It's a captivating narrative punctuated by pictures and captions and punchy, upbeat inspirational messages on the theme of opening up to the possibilities that life has to offer. Kyle is a hipster hero with a big heart and enough naivete that we can all laugh and hope with him on his sometimes bungling pursuit of the dream. I can't wait for the sequel, which will no doubt detail how MacDonald continues to avoid full-time employment in ever more creative ways.

One Red Paperclip, Kyle MacDonald. New York: Three Rivers Press, 2007.
isbn 978-0-307-35316-0

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From the time I learned to do it, my love of reading has focused around fiction. In this space I'd like to write about nonfiction books that are every bit as gripping as the novels I've always preferred.

Fiction lovers are drawn to novels because they find one of several tantalizing elements there: first, words--a delicious turn of phrase, a lovely image that instantly turns the world inside out, or the pure lyricism of a well-written sentence. Second, the element of escape. In order for a book to become a mental destination, it needs to offer a plot or a sense of suspense, or capture a time or place so powerfully that we are drawn in unaware. Third, a journey--everyone loves a quest. Fourth, brilliant characterization. Because at the core, when we read literature we are trying to unite with humanity: to share the experience of living with all those who join us in the written sphere of the heart. If a nonfiction work offers up one of these elements richly enough, it can capture the attention of even the most diehard fiction devotee.