Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/The Land of Feast or Famine (Hornby)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was redirect to John Hornby. As noted in this discussion, the sources don't really support the material in the article. Joyous! | Talk 00:43, 8 November 2022 (UTC)

The Land of Feast or Famine (Hornby)

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Article about an unpublished novel manuscript, not properly referenced as passing our notability criteria for novels. The notability claim being attempted here is that it was credited as "helping to build the public's perception of the harshness, danger, and romance of life in the north" -- except that it fails to quantify how an unpublished book (which, by definition, was not widely read) can actually do that -- and the two footnotes here are not reliable or notability-making sources, but consist of a brief glance off the writer's existence in an academic thesis that isn't about him or his work, and an article in a limited circulation magazine published by a private foundation. This is not sufficient sourcing to claim that an unpublished manuscript would pass WP:GNG. Bearcat (talk) 18:17, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Note: This discussion has been included in the deletion sorting lists for the following topics: Literature and Canada. Bearcat (talk) 18:17, 31 October 2022 (UTC)
 * Comment. I thought merge into John Hornby would seem reasonable; however I note Hornby's Dictionary of Canadian Biography entry doesn't mention it, and the Torch Magazine article, which is one of the two sources, doesn't seem to mention it either?? The mentions in the Raffan dissertation appear fairly glancing. There are other mentions, including, which refers to it as "notes for a projected book" and "proposed book". Also  "I have chosen the name for this book as a tribute to Hornby, who often spoke of writing a book under that title."  Also  "An account of that winter is in Ingstad’s (1992) book The Land of Feast and Famine, which is the name of John Hornby’s unwritten book (Stewart, 1984)." Also  "Under the window on the west side was a leather suitcase....it contained a large notebook in which was the beginning of a story called, "In the Land of Feast or Famine: A Life in the Arctic Region," by J. Hornby. A preface and the first two chapters, also draft reports and notes on Caribou, etc." and there are several more relevant hits in Google. Given that multiple mention of it exists in reliable sources, there seems no harm in at least a redirect and a brief mention in Hornby's article, especially as he appears to have been the originator of a phrase now commonly used to refer to the area. Espresso Addict (talk) 03:25, 1 November 2022 (UTC)
 * Redirect. The quotes given in this article in the footnotes don't really support the text they're attached to - so agree with Espresso Addict that there is no need for a merge. A single sentence about it on his biography article is all we'd need. -- asilvering (talk) 23:54, 1 November 2022 (UTC)


 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.