Reviews

★ Fatal Passage: The Untold Story of John Rae, the Arctic Adventurer Who Discovered the Fate of Franklin

Journalist and novel writer Ken McGoogan originally envisioned the material for Fatal Passage as a novel, but his research turned up such a fascinating story that he felt it would be better told as non-fiction. ... Read More »

February 12, 2004 | Filed under: History

Born with a Tooth

By Joseph Boyden

The stories in Joseph Boyden’s first collection, Born with a Tooth, chart the resources, rituals, misgivings, and misfortunes of a cast of characters on a Northern Ontario native reserve. As a series of windows into ... Read More »

February 12, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Short

Flying in Silence

By Gerry Turcotte

Like so many novels of childhood, Flying in Silence is structured like a contemporary Odyssey – only in reverse. Where Ulysses confronts miracles and monsters on a voyage to his elusive homeland, today’s hero is ... Read More »

February 12, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Make Believe Love

By Lee Gowan

“Quirky” is one of those overused words, right up there with “dot-com” and “extreme.” But Lee Gowan’s first novel, Make Believe Love, really does deserve the epithet. You’ve got Joan, the wiseass, sexy librarian; Jason, ... Read More »

February 12, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

A Kind of Fiction

By P.K. Page; P.K. Page

In “Unless the Eye Catch Fire,” the last and best story of P.K. Page’s A Kind of Fiction, an avid gardener and sometime journal writer is possessed by a strangely calm end-of-world vision that enables ... Read More »

February 12, 2004 | Filed under: Children and YA Non-fiction, Fiction: Short

Miss Smithers

By Susan Juby

My first exposure to the genre of junior chick-lit happened in an airport departure lounge. The girl sitting across from me was engrossed in her book. She was a tidy girl, ten-something, with a tidy ... Read More »

February 11, 2004 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

Short Journey Upriver Toward Oishida

By Roo Borson

Despite its evocative imagery and technical excellence, Roo Borson’s ninth collection feels like a hodgepodge of diary clippings, poems, and short stories that try hard to find cohesion under a consistent theme. Short Journey Upriver ... Read More »

February 11, 2004 | Filed under: Poetry

Does Canada Matter? Liberalism and the Illusion of Sovereignty

By Clarence Bolt

Canadian politics in the 20th century have been driven by three ideologies: toryism, liberalism, and socialism. The force that has brought together these disparate ideologies is nationalism.While toryism accepts social privilege and economic inequality as ... Read More »

February 11, 2004 | Filed under: Politics & Current Affairs