The Never-Ending Present

"Barclay's remarkable chronicle of the Tragically Hip is as wide as it is deep. He sets down their story with a historian's care and an artist's rambling curiosity, revisiting each note with wit, expertise and so much heart. It's eminently readable, clever and funny--what an achievement." --Sean Michaels, Giller Prize-winning author of Us Conductors

"Barclay is the perfect inside outsider, pulling back the cloak on an iconic, insular rock band to reveal its hold on a country's conscience and the poetic genius of its heroic front man. A fascinating story masterfully told." --Nicholas Jennings, author of Lightfoot

"An essential addition to every music fan's bookshelf. It's a thorough and beautiful love letter to the Tragically Hip and their legacy." --Andrea Warner, author of Buffy Sainte-Marie: The Authorized Biography

"The Never-Ending Present is much more than a love letter to a fallen Canadian hero. It's an ambitious chronicle of a moment in our cultural history, a richly detailed and clear-eyed investigation into why this music and these people mattered, and still do." --Paul Wells, Maclean's

"Stands on its own against the excellent documentary Long Time Running. It's a mammoth endeavour." --Winnipeg Free Press

"This is a remarkable and moving and excellent book."--John K. Samson, The Weakerthans

The Tragically Hip sold millions of records and defined a generation of Canadian rock music, but these five men were always more than just a band. They were a tabula rasa onto which fans could project their own ideas: of performance, of poetry, of history, of Canada itself.

In the first print biography of the Tragically Hip, Michael Barclay talks to dozens of the band's peers and friends about not just the Hip's music but about the bands who opened for them, the hockey connection, dealing with disease through art, the Hip's role in Canadian culture and Gord Downie's role in reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. It's a book for those who have always loved the Hip--and for everyone else. As Downie said at that final show watched by millions, "Everyone is invited. Everyone is involved."