Criticism & Essays

A Short History of Progress

The Massey Lectures series has weighed in, once again, with a provocative and timely exploration of important ideas. Ronald Wright, one of this country’s intellectual treasures, brings his background in archaeology, history, and comparative culture ... Read More »

November 1, 2004 | Filed under: Criticism & Essays

Moving Targets: Writing with Intent, 1982-2004

By Margaret Atwood

For Moving Targets, her second collection of reviews, journalism, and occasional pieces, Margaret Atwood has elected to follow a strictly chronological organizing format. While this may seem simplistic at first glance, ultimately this approach unifies ... Read More »

November 1, 2004 | Filed under: Criticism & Essays

A Lover’s Quarrel

By Carmine Starnino

Montreal poet, editor, and critic Carmine Starnino is a lonely brave voice in a milquetoast milieu. To readers panting in a critical desert of “joylessness and phrasal drabness” he offers “ebullience, ardency and verve.” He ... Read More »

October 18, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, Criticism & Essays

The Solid Form of Language: An Essay on Writing and Meaning

By Robert Bringhurst

“Years ago, in a Bosnian town, a woman tried repeatedly to speak to me, though the words she knew and trusted were words I did not understand,” recalls the writer Robert Bringhurst. “At length, in ... Read More »

June 15, 2004 | Filed under: Criticism & Essays

Chinese Brushstrokes: Stories of China

By Sandra Hutchison

Sandra Hutchison is a Canadian English professor who spent time in eastern central China teaching English language and literature at a university in Hefei, the capital of Anhui province. She was evacuated in June, 1989 ... Read More »

March 16, 2004 | Filed under: Criticism & Essays

Enterprise Zones: Critical Positions on Star Trek

By Taylor Harrison, et al., eds.

Star Trek and its sequels have tantalized the imagination for 30 years. Both the technological marvels and the egalitarian social relations are inspirational. But is this world really so idyllic?The 12 essays that make up ... Read More »

March 16, 2004 | Filed under: Criticism & Essays

Lost Japan

By Alex Kerr

Travelers who’ve used Lonely Planet guides to navigate Laos by bicycle or trek through mountain passes in New Zealand may be surprised by Lost Japan, one of four titles published to launch the company’s new ... Read More »

March 12, 2004 | Filed under: Criticism & Essays

Arousing Sensation: A Case Study of Controversy Surrounding Art and the Erotic

By Sylvie Gilbert, ed.

As contemporary art curator at Banff’s Walter Phillips Gallery, Sylvie Gilbert spent five years organizing issue-oriented exhibitions like Much Sense: Erotics and Life. Featuring installations by Maureen Connor, Robert Flack, and Kiss & Tell, as ... Read More »

March 10, 2004 | Filed under: Criticism & Essays

The Ad Men Move on Lhasa: Writing and Culture in a Virtual World

By Steven Heighton

With his new book of essays, award-winning Kingston poet and short story writer Steven Heighton joins the dark, millennial murmurings of writers like Sven Birkerts, whose 1994 Gutenberg Elegies sounded an eloquent warning knell – ... Read More »

March 9, 2004 | Filed under: Criticism & Essays

Bram Stoker’s Dracula: Sucking Through the Century, 1897–1997

By Carol Margaret Davison with Paul Simpson-Housley,eds.

This book of essays on Dracula, intended for inclusion on university reading lists, will also appeal to those with a serious interest in the rise of this popular icon. Carol Margaret Davison, a lecturer in ... Read More »