Governor General's Award-winning visual artist John Scott is perhaps best known for his Trans Am of the Apocalypse, a car with the entire Book of Revelation scratched onto it, which is on display at the National Gallery of Canada. As Ann MacDonald discovered when she began working with him, Scott's personal life is no less compelling. So she sat down with Scott, a tape recorder and a stack of napkins for him to draw on – Shiva's Really Scary Gifts is the result.

From catching a baseball bat in the teeth to harbouring the FBI's most-wanted fugitive in his Queen Street studio, John Scott has, it seems, done it all. Join him as he, in words and drawings, terrifies a pair of robbers, loses a parent, and struggles to get a gun permit for an art installation – John Scott's intriguing stories and the hundred accompanying drawings will help you get to know the man behind the Am.

Shiva's Really Scary Gifts is a self-portrait of the artist as a delusional, diseased and debauched young man, a book as hilarious as it is touching.

John Scott is a Canadian professional ice hockey player in the National Hockey League. Scott previously played for the Minnesota Wild, Chicago Blackhawks, New York Rangers, San Jose Sharks, Buffalo Sabres, Arizona Coyotes, and Montreal Canadiens of the NHL. Scott was born in Edmonton, Alberta, but grew up in St. Catharines, Ontario. He graduated from Michigan Technological University with a mechanical engineering degree. Scott and his wife, Danielle, have four daughters: Eva, Gabrielle, Estelle, and Sofia.

John Scott's profile page

Ann MacDonald is currently engaged in the second manifestation of her life as an artist and writer.

Ann MacDonald's profile page