Reviews

Children’s Books That Nurture the Spirit

There are abundant British and American guides to children’s books, but it’s extremely rare to find Canadian titles in their pages. If for no other reason than national pride, we needed McClelland & Stewart’s A ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: Reference

While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World

By Andrew Cohen

International affairs writer Andrew Cohen believes Canada’s presence on the world stage has dwindled dramatically since the decade or so following the Second World War. According to what he refers to as “the three principal ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: History

★ Question & Answer

By Alison Pick

What is the answer?” No answer came. She laughed and said, “In that case what is the question?” (Gertrude Stein) In her debut poetry collection, Question & Answer, Alison Pick takes up Gertrude Stein’s challenge, ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: Poetry

Promiscuous Unbound

By Bex Brian

For a novel that seems to promise sensual candour if not outright licentiousness, the only truly shocking thing about Promiscuous Unbound, Bex Brian’s debut novel, is just how modest it turns out to be. Although ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

The Heart Is an Involuntary Muscle

By Monique Proulx, Fred A. Reed and David Homel, trans.

Best-selling Quebec novelist Monique Proulx doesn’t have her own web site, but she leaps daringly into cyberspace in her latest novel. While designing web sites for a rag-tag mob of artists, writers, clowns, and other ... Read More »

November 25, 2003 | Filed under: Fiction: Novels

An Innocent in Newfoundland: Even More Curious Rambles and Singular Encounters

By David McFadden

Fans of the Toronto poet, non-fiction writer, and all-round wit David McFadden have become familiar with his trademark travel-narrative style through his previous books An Innocent in Scotland and An Innocent in Ireland. McFadden now ... Read More »

November 20, 2003 | Filed under: Reference

The Man Who Mapped the Arctic: The Intrepid Life of George Back, Franklin’s Lieutenant

By Peter Steele

Whitehorse author Peter Steele is a biographer who has done his share of northern travelling. In The Man Who Mapped the Arctic, Steele turns his attention to one of the hardiest 19th-century Arctic explorers, George ... Read More »

November 20, 2003 | Filed under: Memoir & Biography

The Spaces in Between: Selected Poems, 1965-2001

By Stephen Scobie

In a country rich in, and appreciative of, its poets and poetry, Victoria writer Stephen Scobie has never quite received the attention that he is due. A noted academic, and winner of the 1980 Governor ... Read More »

November 20, 2003 | Filed under: Poetry

The Alchemy of Happiness

By Marilyn Bowering

Alchemy. The word conjures images of medieval laboratories, of quasi-magical transformations, and, perhaps most importantly, of failure. For despite their many important contributions to modern science, the medieval alchemists ultimately failed in their primary goal: ... Read More »

November 20, 2003 | Filed under: Poetry

Shoshanna’s Story

By Elaine Kalman Naves

Elaine Kalman Naves brings a crisp, beguiling voice to her contemplation of her complicated childhood in Hungary, England, and Montreal. Born to Holocaust-survivors Shoshanna and Gusti, Ilushka (as she was then called) grows up against ... Read More »