Book Description

Jeff Wall is foremost among the artists who since the late 1960s have brought photography to the forefront of contemporary art. This revised and expanded edition of the definitive monograph on the Canadian artist, first published in 1996, includes a new fully illustrated essay on Wall's recent work by the French historian of art and photography Jean-François Chevrier, in addition to the artist's recent writings. Describing himself as 'a painter of modern life', Wall produces huge transparencies mounted onto light boxes which diffuse a brilliant glow through his photographs of contemporary urban scenes and 'constructed' social situations. These images employ the latest technology to create tableaux which are evocative of subjects ranging from Hollywood cinema to nineteenth-century history painting. When installed they evoke both the seduction of the cinema screen and the physical presence of minimalist sculptures. Wall engages at a sophisticated level with theories of representation both as an artist and as a theoretical writer on contemporary art and culture. Major surveys of his work have been presented at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago (1995); the Galerie Nationale du Jeu de Paume, Paris (1995); the Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (1996), and the Musée d'Art Contemporain, Montreal (1999). ... Read more

Reviews (1)

The ultimate publication in contamporary art and culture
A great book about a great artist, in a great series of "Phaidon" dedicated to contemporary art. Not easy to read, but worth it. The debate about Jeff Wall's art (in which wall himself is an importent participent) encompasses many fundamental questions and notions regarding new art history, post-modernism and society at the end of this century. A must for contemporary art lovers. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Best objective work on subject yet.
There has been so much written about Black recently that it is hard to steer through all the extreme critisism. I found that here, in one place, a historical biographer with immpecable credentials had laid it all out.

I was captivated in reading about this modern day Canadian Press Baron who followed in the shoes of Lord Beaverbrook, and Lord Thompson. After all, Black owns or owned some 500 newspapers world wide.

Certainly Black may have fallen short in the eyes of some of his shareholders and the liberal press but he did much for quality journalism possibly more than any other modern day newspaper owner.

This is not a one-sided book and seems to have been meticulously researched. It tells some very revealing no-so-flattering facts about Black, his marriage and his life style. What I liked most was that the Author never talked down to his readers and treated me with enough intelegence to let me draw my conclusions.

The author has made the most of his personal interviews with Black.No other journalist seems to have been able to get near Black for years.

Lord Black: the Biography is a revealing piece of work. Hard to put down

The Reviews are in
"...Kudos to George Tombs..." (The Globe & Mail)

...in the Battle of Black, BT's Lord Black is the winner.
James Adams, (Globe and Mail)

"the book is fascinating and everyone should read it. I only have a
million more questions to ask you so we will have to have you back."

Melanie Deveau (CKLW Windsor)

Mr. Tombs takes the reader on a fascinating behind the scenes look at the man, who at his height controlled over 500 newspapers around the world.Over a three-year period Mr. For this unauthorized biography, Tombs interviewed Conrad Black and hundreds of his associates, business partners, friends, allies and foes to provide readers with this insightful account of the man himself.

The book is filled with anecdotal perspective from international figures like Henry Kissinger, Margaret Thatcher, Ken Thomson, Peter White, Dan Colson, Donald Trump, Chris Browne, and Nicolas Berry (son of former Telegraph owner Lord Hartwell) and former Prime Minister Brian Mulroney to name just a few.Interviews that if requested today, would not be given....and some interviews that were asked to be removed. They are still in the book, so if you are looking for an objective perspective on the man and his fall from grace, Lord Black provides the reader with all the facts.George Tombs access to the man himself lends a unique balance to the book. Readers can be the judges!

Lord Black
"Lord Black" was an outstanding book, chronicling the Life and Times of Lord (Conrad Black).The book covers his Rise and fall of one of the world's pre-eminent press barons and how Love, Childhood and his early career affected the way in which he viewed the world.

I couldn't put it down and can only hope that there is more from this author on the man.I also liked the author's objectivity in dealing with the current media events and found him to be fair, in his portrayal of Black.

There are a lot of quotes from famous people, in this book. It appears the author did extensive research on his subject.It could be a little longer on some of the subjects, but this is a fast paced book that keeps you turning the pages.

Just great !
A serious book on Conrad Black... After all that crap in the papers, it's good to know what's true and what's not. Here is a well writen book on a very complex man...

I heard it's the only one of all the forthcoming books on Conrad Black with real interviews with Black himself... Nice to know. ... Read more

Book Description

What it means to be a people without a nation is one of the more haunting problems of our times. In the twentieth century, this has been an immense issue for Jews, for the Romanies, and for African-Americans; it has been a question for Acadians for more than 350 years.

In 1755, in retribution for their refusal to bear arms, all Acadians were deported from their homeland around the Bay of Fundy in what is today Canada’s Maritime region. Ever since, they have worked hard to keep a sense of their identity as Acadians, no matter whether they lived in New Brunswick or Louisiana, Nova Scotia or Texas.

Clive Doucet has wrestled with the question of Acadian identity since his childhood, when he spent some unforgettable summers with his paternal grandparents in an Acadian village in Nova Scotia and others with his maternal grandparents in London, England. In 1994, he joined with a quarter of a million other Acadians in their first ever reunion as a people, in New Brunswick, Canada. It inspired him to write Notes from Exile, which is in part a charming story of his childhood holidays, a heartwarming account of “les Retrouvailles,” and an eye-opening history of the Acadians, woven into a whole by a thoughtful, challenging consideration of what it means to be Acadian in a world without Acadie. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

It's About Time!
As a die-hard "acadienne" living in the middle of what used to be Acadie, the ignorance surrounding "le gran derangement" of 1755 never ceases to amaze me, and yet it should not.The objective of the British in 1755 was pure and simple genocide. Given that they managed to kill off nearly half of us and completely dispossess the balance of us of our beloved homeland, their campaign would appear to have been a raging success. But those that survived against such tremendous odds give credence to the old saying "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger."We are a true nation still. Msr. Doucet's work goes a long way toward explaining how and why we are reuniting as a people, sporting our colors" and making some major noise about the true and sordid history of "New Scotland".

Next year will mark the 400th anniversary of the first landing of the Acadiens on Isle St. Croix, just 20 miles up the road from where I currently live.That is where the Acadien Congress Mondial will be kicked off.It would behoove all Acadiens (please stop with the "Acadians" and the "Cajuns" already - give yourselves some self-respect and use your nation's true name; it's is not rocket science!) and anyone with an interest in the histories of displaced peoples to read this book.

Forget Longfellow!Everybody loves a good tragic romance. "Evangeline" was "pablum for the masses" and padding for the poet's pocket, not an attempt at accurate history.Msr. Doucet has finally removed the sugar-coating.Merci beaucoup, monsieur, for telling a story that should have been screamed on the pages of history books for the past 200 years.So read all about it and then show up at the party that starts near Calais, Maine next summer.

Vacation in Nova Scotia
This past summer I was taking a Bicycle Vacation in Nova Scotia and as part of our trip we went to Grand Pre.Though I am a native New Englander, I had only a cursory idea about the Acadian diaspora in the l8th century and no awareness at all of the l994 reunion in New Brunswick.I was actually looking for another book to increase my knowledge and awareness about this subject, when I stumbled onto a copy of Clive's book.While it does finally run out of steam near it's conclusion, it is an fine work in and of itself.But for anyone who wants a sense of the modern Acadian movement it is invaluable.And if one is an exile of any sort--cultural, political, sexual--this provides amazing insight into what it means to be an exile of any type in the modern world.

History Hidden in a Personal Story
On the surface, Notes from Exile gives a brief overview of the history of the Acadians of Maritime Canada and the difficulties they faced in trying to strike a neutral balance between France and England, resulting in theirremoval from Nova Scotia in 1755. But wrapped around this history isDoucet's own story as the child of an Acadian father and an English motherwho was caught between their two very different worlds.

Doucet is a radioreporter and his sense of narrative is impeccable, but while he makes Notesfrom Exile an interesting read is the intertwining tales of Doucet's youth,the 1994 Acadian World Congress and the history of the Acadians. Asfrustrating as it sometimes can be, this blending of tales helps underscorehow the events of 1755 remain relevant to Acadians nearly 250 years later. ... Read more

Reviews (4)

Maria Campbell's soul on paper
The way Maria Campbell literally bears her entire being onto paper is absolutely amazing. As Canadian citizens, it is important to still recognize the issues that plague our society. Campbell's book does just that, offering insight and a hope for something better.

Disadvatageous peoples of North America
The novel, "Half-breed" is based on the biography of Maria Campbell, a Metis woman who was born in northern Saskatchewan. Maria Campbell's family was a mixture of Scottish, French, Cree, English, and Irish. They spoke a language completely different from the people around them. The half-breeds lost their land when the authorities reclaimed it to offer to immigrants. Thus half-breeds settled down along the road lines and crown lands where they built cabins and bars, giving them the title of "Road Allowance people". Maria was born in a home where Cheecum, her father's Cree grandmother, taught ancient Cree rituals and legends. Maria's struggle for existence was strengthened by the Cree traditions and by Cheecum's wisdom. However, this was weakened by extreme discrimination and poverty.When she was fifteen, she tried to escape from poverty and discrimination by marrying a white person. However, soon after she broke up with him and found herself alone in the slums of Vancouver where she faced drug addiction, prostitution and depression. After many years of hardship and struggle, Maria made new friends who helped her to remember Cheechum's lessons, advice and her heritage. Eventually she returned to her own people and decided to work with native organisations all across Canada. The text is mainly concerned with the frequent discrimination, its negative impact and the extreme poverty in which the Metis- Indians had to live under. The narrator of the book, Maria Campbell, conveys her sorrows and frustrations by emphasising what it is like to be a Half-breed woman and grows up between two opposing worlds: white and native. The text clearly demonstrates the existing problems regarding race within the pluralistic Canadian society. The narrator develops the argument by describing her experiences. Through her experiences, she explains how badly whites treated her and her people. She grew up as a social outcast and was constantly teased and mistreated by other school children. Throughout the novel, Maria Campbell provides many examples to show the white society's mistrust and rejection of her people. The examples show the Indians' isolation on every level of society, including the church. Not only were she and her family excluded and driven out of church, but they also had to suffer verbal insult. Whenever the Half-breeds went downtown, the town's people would yell "Half-breeds are in town, hide your valuables." If they walked into stores, other white women and their children would leave while the shopkeepers'wives and children would watch to prevent the Half-breeds from stealing. The text discusses three important sociological concepts: discrimination, poverty and injustice. Defining these concepts in "cause-effect" context, one can see the interconnection among the three. Unjust government policies causes poverty, which in effect contributes to society's enhanced discrimination and mistrust of the Indians. While the Half-breeds represent a subculture, characterised by certain cultural traits that differs from others in the society, whites represent the dominant class who hold the power and influence. The Half-breeds were homeless because the Canadian government had unfairly taken their land away from them, so they have remained poor and unable to establish their own social institutions such as church and school. Consequently, the Half-breeds were subordinated and forced to speak the dominant language, behave the way whites do, and go to schools and churches that were built by the white society. Thus, the cultural diversity, different physical appearance, economical scarcity and a disordered life style, greatly influenced the discrimination against the Half-breeds. In the first fourteen chapters, the narrator relates the life style of half-breed families, their relationship with the white society, their traits, traditions, and their history. Through her experiences, she explains how badly whites treated her and her people. She grew up as a social ou, the Half-breeds remained relatively poorer and powerless. As the narrator states, due to poverty and lack of housing the Half-breeds had to move to "road-allowance-houses" (which are like shacks). The pages of these chapters also uncover the main cultural differences between whites and half-breeds by describing their family structure, distinct traditions and conception. These differences can be the structural elements that contribute to the uniqueness of Indian's situation. Firstly, unlike whites', half-breeds have extended family type in which two or more generations of the family members live together. Secondly, the half-breed families and other Indians live in a community where they practise their spiritual rituals, traditions and transmit their distinct cultural elements to the coming generation. It is also evident in the novel that Maria's family included her extended family and the Cheemchum taught Maria and her siblings their heritage, legends as well as cultural values and norms. Finally, the most important characteristic that sets the Indians apart from whites lies in their spiritual conception of the world. While the Indians are highly spiritual and believe in the interpretation of the natural and the supernatural, the whites strongly believe in subduing and dominating nature in order to create nature in men's image. With respect to such differences, in regards to family and community structure Indians try to sustain their distinct conception of the world as well as their distinct culture. Hence, their struggles to protect and sustain their uniqueness make them more distinct and marginal in the society. Maintaining these distinct elements also causes the Indians to remain economically weak in the contemporary industrialised Canadian society, since their belief is based on rationality rather than spirituality and the supernatural. The rest of the chapters are about Maria Campbell's life in Vancouver. The book mostly focuses on the realities of urban racism, prostitution, drug addiction and violence. Maria's husband left her without any money, which forced her to face prostitution. Within functional perspective, which is based on consensus and harmony for the benefit of society, prostitution seemed to be the only way for Maria to survive. Therefore she had to get involved in prostitution in order to survive and have enough money to raise her daughter; thus she carried out her function in society. In this process she also became addicted to drug and alcohol, because all the terrible circumstances that she faced were against her moral understanding and distinct (Half-breeds') conception of the world. So she lost her self-esteem and found herself in depression with the trap of drug addiction and alcoholism. At the end, she recovered from her addictions through the help of her own people. They helped her to regain her identity and dignity hence she started to work within "Native people" organisations throughout Canada.Campbell's experiences with discrimination, poverty, and other unfavourable things are realistic and persuasive. The examples that she gives in the novel strongly support her argument: the hardship of being "a half-breed woman in the white dominated Canadian society". Yet, at times her narrative tends to be biased since she conveys her story in a subjective manner. Especially, her easy and quick involvement in prostitution and drug addiction is questionable and difficult to understand since she was raised in a conservative and traditional Cree family. Nevertheless, The book "Half-breed" basically reflects an outstanding aspect of native people's difficulty in assimilating into the pluralistic Canadian society. It also provides a brief knowledge about how native people's distinct culture and subordinated economical or political weakness contribute their marginal and isolated position in the society. Overall, I personally think this book is useful for understanding the sociological concepts such as inequality, discrimination and poverty through the eyes of the distinct people who are discriminated against. The text offers an aspect of native people's lives in northern Saskatchewan through a half-breeds woman's experiences. The simple language and fascinating narrative makes the book more interesting and easy to read.

halfbreed by maria campbell
though her stories are not exclusive to the life of a Metis woman, the imagery is haunting. poverty, addiction, motherhood and the will of a society forced to make it on their own are all exposed. these themes are explored by other authors but not from this perspective. I would recommend this to every mother and/or women thinking of starting a family. this is a must read. for a guys perspective on similar themes check out alexie sherman's "the lone ranger and tanto fist fight in heaven". you won't be disappointed.

Praise for a Story of Survival
Maria Campbell tells a story of courageous survival from the perspective of a Metis woman. The reader becomes a part of Maria's journey through life, which begins amongst the Road Allowance People of Northern Saskatchewan. Her story describes a life dominated by basic survival. Hunting, trapping, poaching - if need be - and roasted gophers for a young school child's lunch. Her odyssey leads her through many dark places, one of them the Vancouver skids and a life as a junkie. Yet througout Maria Campbell manages to convey a sense of beauty, and her story, though often tragic, will become vivid in front of the reader's inner eyes. Half-Breed is a story of triumph over racial oppression. After reading this book, one can feel this woman's willingness to continue the fight that her great-grandmother's people began long ago in Riel country. ... Read more

Book Description

In 1766, Samuel Hearne, at just twenty-one and already a veteran of the Seven Years' War, joined the Hudson's Bay Company, which charged him with the unwieldy task of finding first a famed and long-lost copper mine-and then the great Northwest Passage. Braving treacherous weather, serious injury, and devastating hunger, Hearne traveled more than thirty-five hundred miles, much of it with the help of legendary Indian chief Matonabbee, to become the first European ever to arrive at North America's Arctic coast. During his harrowing three-year quest, he fell in love with a young settler, observed the infamous massacre at "Bloody Falls," and kept a meticulous account of his experiences-the first book ever published on the Arctic. McGoogan recounts these and many other spectacular and historic events in his characteristically enthusiastic voice, and even argues convincingly that Hearne's chance encounter with Samuel Taylor Coleridge inspired the great poet to compose his epic work. Ancient Mariner is illustrated throughout, and maps are also featured. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Truth is more amazing than fiction
This book by Ken McGoogan recalls Peter C. Newman's fascinating books about the Hudson's Bay Company: Caesars of the Wilderness and The Company Adventurers. I think that schoolchildren should be reading these books rather than dry old history tomes. And, if all you have read are these history textbooks, then I suggest you give yourself a chance to revisit these amazing explorers.The story of Samuel Hearne is magnificently told by Ken McGoogan and it will have you thirsting for more stories of the amazing men and women (yes, women!) who lived, fought, loved in a cruel land. It was a book I could not put down.

A stroll in the woods
Exploration stories often focus on the tropics.David Livingstone, Albert Russel Wallace, Richard Burton and others are readily recalled.The polar quests of Amundsen, Cook, Peary and Byrd probably follow in popularity.The upper latitudes seem almost overlooked.With little land mass approaching Antarctica and its pole, Canada and Russia are left for investigation by the enquiring mind.Having offered the life of one such wanderer in John Rae, McGoogan now reaches further back in time and place to reveal the life of Samuel Hearne.It's a fine study of a dedicated man.

McGoogan's lively narrative traces Hearne's Royal Navy career, then follows him to the Hudson's Bay Company [HBC] station of Prince of Wales Fort.With the Canadian Arctic still a terra incognita, various quests were under consideration - the Northwest Passage and/or an inland sea leading to Asia being prime contenders.A more specific ambition arose with indications of a vast copper resource near the Arctic Sea.Hearne pursued this rumour by trekking across the Canadian tundra to find it.Various interludes occurred along the way.

Hearne's expeditions to the Arctic seem pre-ordained to failure.Having but a hazy notion of what confronted him wasn't a hindrance.Bureaucracy proved the more serious impediment.The British attitude toward indigenous peoples compounded faulty notions of requirements for such a trip.With no idea of how Native Peoples? societies were structured, British HBC agents blundered into one crisis after another.In today's world, for a man to suggest that women must accompany the expedition to perform specialised tasks would bring down the wrath of the Human Rights Commission.In the 18th Century rise of the HBC in Canada women performed essential roles.No Native Peoples? women meant no Native Peoples? men.No men, no expedition.McGoogan explains all these circumstances without apology or condemnation.It's a professional historian's approach, worthy of full praise.

The other aspect of British imperialism's shortsighted view is the relationships among Canada's Native Peoples.Hearne and others would counsel peace to those who had been warring when the British still painted themselves blue.These animosities were not easily quelled and might break out without warning nor discernible reason.Hearne was confronted with this near the mouth of the Coppermine River.McGoogan, relying on Hearne's own account, describes the massacre of an Inuit settlement leading to the naming of "Bloody Falls".The event remained fixed in Hearne's memory for the remainder of his life.

Hearne, seeking an ephemeral copper lode, traversed immense stretches of the Canadian North.With various teams, but particularly relying on a Dene negotiator, Matonabbee, Hearne viewed the Arctic Ocean, the first European to reach it overland.The copper wasn't there, nor, in Hearne's opinion, was there any possibility of a Northwest Passage.He saw the Great Slave Lake, but when he later reported on his journey, skeptics were confounded by how far west it lay.Canada's vastness overwhelmed chair-bounded geographers.Hearne wasn't simply seeking mineral wealth.He recorded copious observations on plant and animal life in the region, as well as collecting information on the native peoples.More than just an adventurer, Hearne is credited by McGoogan as being one of earliest naturalists.

Hearne's return to England was less than satisfactory.An account of his travels netted him not a penny - he died before publication.One event, a likely meeting with Coleridge at a boy's school, may have led Hearne to become the source of the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.While the notion is McGoogan's speculative idea, it's plausible enough to be valid.It certainly provided a good, if unexpected, title for the life of an Arctic explorer.McGoogan presents that life vividly, with only minor, forgiveable, embellishments.[stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada] ... Read more

Book Description

Crossroads Country is a collection of life stories of people who worked or studied at Memorial College before Confederation. It weaves together stories of friendships, kin networks, and lifetime connections into a fabric of Newfoundland culture of the 1930s and 40s. It examines the various ties that Newfoundland enjoyed with Canada, the United States and Great Britain to form it into the culturally unique place that it is today. ... Read more

Book Description

Based heavily on original Russian sources, this biography of Czar Ivan IV examines the plots, massacres, and poisonings that earned Ivan his famous epithet. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A biographical tour de force
Robert Payne's "Ivan The Terrible" is sensational. The book, in addition to being a great historical research project, is also a lively read. Though it nears 500 pages, this book manages to navigate Ivan the Terrible's life in detail, without continual sidetracking or nitpicking. The pace of the book moves well and is free of dead sections that seem to be aimed at specialists instead of the lay reader.

The danger in writing a biography on someone like Ivan the Terrible is to psychoanalyze and read too much into the turbulent times and events. While Payne offers some explanations for the erratic and awful behavior of the Grand Prince of Muscovy, he certainly doesn't try to explain away, apologize or revise the life of Ivan.

There is also a tendency in biography to get mired down in political intrigues and military minutae of the times. While there is certainly plenty of intrigue and military history, the book never wanders far from the subject matter which is Ivan, a man possessed by history, demons and angels.

This book may not satisfy the specialist, who might yearn for more detail and more footnotes, but it is certainly a good, solid starting point for someone wanting to know more about Ivan the Terrible.

Payne has done a great service for Russian history buffs. ... Read more

Book Description

In July 1942, Farley Mowat was an eager young infantryman bound for Europe and impatient for combat. This powerful, true account of the action he saw, fighting desperately to push the Nazis out of Italy, evokes the terrible reality of war with an honesty and clarity fiction can only imitate. In scene after unforgettable scene, he describes the agony and antic humor of the soldier's existence: the tedium of camp life, the savagery of the front, and the camaraderie shared by those who have been bloodied in battle. ... Read more

Book Description

This richly illustrated story-poem celebrates the experience of learning to paint in the presence of a master teacher. Set in the 1900s when artist Emily Carr (1871–1945) was teaching art to children, The Art Room highlights Carr’s passion for painting the natural world and the sense of freedom she inspired in her students. Emily Carr’s work has been exhibited with, and frequently compared to, the art of Georgia O’Keeffe and Frida Kahlo. Pascal Milelli’s illustrations are a perfect foil to the work Carr created. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

In the form of a delightful story poem
Emily Carr (1871-1945) was an acclaimed artist who lived and painted along the Northwest Coast. Her paintings have been recently exhibited with such legendary pioneer women artists as Georgia O'Keeffe and Frida Kahlo. Written by Susan Vande Griek's The Art Room is set in the early 1900s and tells (in the form of a delightful story poem) of Emily Carr's having to teach art to children in order to support herself. Here portrayed is Carr's love of animals, her insistence on painting from life and nature, and the sense of fun and freedom that she inspired in her many students. Susan Vande Griek's superbly presented text is showcased with the rich artwork of Pacal Milelli who has managed to perfectly capture the life and work of Emily Carr, a true pioneer female artist in her own right. ... Read more

Book Description

Pierre Elliott Trudeau always opposed the dominant ideology and what passed for conventional wisdom. This was true when he spoke out against the oppressive rule of Maurice Duplessis in Quebec. It was true in his years in Ottawa, as justice minister and prime minister, when he introduced controversial measures ranging from wage-and-price controls and restrictions on foreign investments, to expanded rights for homosexuals. It remained true in the years after his retirement, particularly when he has took issue with the more provocative expressions of Quebec nationalism and with federal initiatives such as Meech Lake and the Charlottetown Accord.

Now neo-conservative ideas have taken over. Virtually every level of government in Canada is competing with the others to reduce the role of the state and eliminate constraints on business. Less government has come to mean a smaller role especially for the federal government. And the increased powers taken on by the provinces are being used, increasingly, to substitute private interests for the public good. The Canada that promoted equality, justice, and opportunity for all is under sustained attack. Never has the need for a clear statement of liberal principles been greater.

In this volume, Ron Graham brought together a selection of excerpts from Trudeau’s writings, speeches, and interviews – many of them never before published in book form – to make a highly readable, lucid, and compelling summary of Trudeau’s political beliefs. To each chapter in this selection Trudeau provided an introduction and to many of the excerpts he added a new commentary. The result is a book of remarkable power: rational, timely, and eloquent.
... Read more

Reviews (2)

Quick Trudeau reference
Trudeauites search no more! In this small book, you'll find all of Trudeaus quotes and thoughts, culled from thousands of pages of materials. They are grouped by relevant section (Quebec sovereignty, etc) and the quotes used make great conversation starters. Love Trudeau or hate him, this book gives both sides plenty of ammo.

Excellent
"The Essential Trudeau" is a well crafted novel that manages to amalgamate all of Trudeau's views on politics into one pocketbook sized novel. What made it very interesting was its ability to seize the reader with it simplicity. Unlike most other political books, this one manages to use language that can be understood by the youngest of Trudeauites. Pierre Trudeau himself contributes to the novel by adding new information on his views and justification for past political decisions while he was in office. This is a very brave book that looks at the views of a man considered to be Canada's most influential Prime Minister. An entire range of topics are covered in this book, including "The state of Quebec nationalism" and "The Role of the state". I highly recomend this novel, as it presents the views of a man who will go down in history as a true liberal. ... Read more

Book Description

High Latitudes chronicles the author’s journey across northern Canada in 1966. Engaging in what Margaret Atwood, in her introduction, calls "a salvation escapade," Mowat hoped to write a book based on his experiences that would debunk the then-current idea of the North as a playground for developers and polluters. Until now, that book remained unwritten. Mowat’s compelling blend of suspenseful storytelling and larger-than-life characters immerses readers in the Arctic, a place Mowat dubs a "bloody great wasteland." In a voice alternately filled with rage, humor, and pathos, Mowat seasons his story with photos, maps, and verbatim transcriptions of testimonies from northern peoples — Inuit and white — at a time when the old ways of life were disappearing. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

A tragic topic, an impressive writer
A sad book. High Latitudes focuses on the disintegrating culture of North Canadian Natives. Much of the book is transcription of the natives in their own words and gives excellent insight into their plight. An overriding theme of the book is the devastating effect bureaucratic decisions of government and big business has had on these Inuits (Eskimos) and others.

This wasn't the adventure story I was expecting from Farley Mowat like "People of the Deer" in which he lived with an arctic community. This trip, taken in 1966, he travels by plane. Still none the less an adventure, he keenly describes a variety of northern communities including: Churchill ("a ...collection of mostly wooden structures between taiga and open tundra"), Povungnituk (the place that stinks), Old Crow (where "people catch lots of rats, won't let you go hungry there"), and many others. In typical fashion, Farley Mowat creates a gripping pathos about past cultures and events never to return, and often includes rich historical background for places he explores.

If you're a Farley Mowat fan, I would rate this as important but not as engaging as some of his other books (I've read four others: "People of the Deer", "And No Birds Sang", "Never Cry Wolf", and "The Boat Who Wouldn't Float"). The book ends somewhat abruptly but he saves a great anecdote from the Yukon Territory for the end. A frustrating aspect about the events you read about in this book is that they took place in the sixties. I'd like to know how these settlements he visited have done since then. I'll probably never know. ... Read more

Book Description

The irascible son of a Jewish pioneer from Czarist Russia whose business acumen built an international company renowned for thequality of its products. ... Read more

Book Description

Collected here for the first time in book form are the expurgated sections of artist, writer, and rebel Emily Carr's unpublished journals, her important "Lecture on Totems" about Native art and people, and letters to and from several key figures in her life. The unpublished journal entries include long passages about her first meeting with Sophie Frank, a Squamish basket maker who became a confidante; anguished meditations on her spiritual mission; musings about Native culture and the white community's reaction to it; and thoughts about her sisters and relatives. This collection also features commentary by noted literary historian Susan Crean that offers cultural and historical context. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

42,000 words from Carr's previously published journals
Award-winning author and cultural critic Susan Crean gathers previously unpublished writings from Emily Carr's journals, notebooks, and epistles, as well as 42,000 words from Carr's previously published journals for inclusion into Opposite Contraries: The Unknown Journals Of Emily Carr And Other Writings. An absorbing and eclectic collection of discourse, the entries range from Carr's father's no-nonsense rendition of the facts of life, to the complete text of Carr's 1913 "Lecture on Totems" concerning Native imagery and Native people, Opposite Contraries is highly recommended -- especially for students of the life and work of Emily Carr, who although best known as an extraordinary painter, was also the author of seven quite popular and critically praised books. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A seminal contribution to a colonial era portrait
Frontenac: The Courtier Governor is the absorbing and deftly researched biography of Louis de Buade, Comte de Frontenac (1622-1698), who was appointed governor general of New France in 1672. Though Louis de Buade was popularly credited with making a daunting and ruthless impression on the Iroquois, defying the military power of colonial Britain, and promoting the imperial expansion of France, his biographer W. J. Eccles (Professor of History, University of Toronto) deftly dissects these myths and steadfastly delves into a more sordid picture of the true Frontenac: a man out of his time who strived to hold on to power and status through corruption, favors at court, and the illicit drive for commerce in the West. A closely researched reexamination and interpretation of primary sources, Frontenac is seminal contribution to a colonial era portrait, and a welcome addition to Canadian and North American history and biography collections.

Incredible
This is THE book on the fur trade, Canadian colonial government,
the Iroquois Wars, and Frontenac himself. It is not a biography of Frontenac, but an engaging history of French Canada. Highly recommended to me by an expert on the subject. ... Read more

Book Description

The character Uncle Tom, from Harriet Beecher Stowe's bestselling novel, Uncle Tom, is based on the life of Josiah Henson (1789-1882). Born in Maryland, Henson escaped and fled to Dresden, Ontario, Canada in 1830. In 1841, a group of abolitionists, including Henson, created a community/school for runaway slaves called the British-American Institute for fugitive slaves. On the 200 acre parcel, Henson and his friends built a grist mill and a saw mill. After emancipation, many of the former slaves returned to the States, though Henson remained there until his death in 1882 ... Read more

Reviews (2)

Half of Book lacks DIRECTION and INTEREST!!!!
In the first half of this documentary of a family's trip to India, Blaise paints an anti-feminist and harsh perpective of his wife's Indian heritage. At first compassionate, Blaise soon loses his readers with his inattention to plot and chronology. His story jumps from his time with his family in Bombay to Calcutta and the present with almost no transitioning explanation while his use of Indian words unknown to his reader are not clarified.

If Mukherjee had written this book entirely, readers' interest may not have wandered as far. Bharati's interpretation of their journey is nostalgic and whimsical at the same time, telling of her return to India after a fourteen-year absence. She often visites the idea of what if; for example, what if she'd stayed behind in India and married an Indian? What if she'd led the traditional Indian life?
I feel a bit sorry for her story being the secondary plot in this otherwise difficult book.

Home and the World
This is one of the most unique travel books I've ever read. The first 165 pages are written by Canadian novelist & short story writer Clark Blaise and are followed by a 115 page section by his wife, Bharati Mukherjee, also a novelist & short story writer & Berkeley professor. The book originally appeared in 1975 and documents in two distinct voices a year spent in the company of Mukherjee's family in India, first in Bombay then in Calcutta.
Blaise and Mukherjee met at a writers workshop in Iowa, married, and lived in Canada with their two children until their house burned down which left them homeless and prompted their journey east. Mukherjee spent her formative years in Calcutta and is returning to a largely familiar world but to Blaise everything is new. The first sixty pages of his narrative take place in Bombay and Blaise is never altogether at home there as they are staying with Mukherjees parents and her father is the uncontested head of the household. Blaise's trips into the city are flights from the congestion of stifling family life, his insights into the nature of Indian family life are in equal parts humorous and informative(the family does not even know the first name of a servant who has lived with them for years, nor do they show any interest in knowing). This view of India from an outsider given an insiders access is just one of many aspects of this book that distinguishes it from mere travel narrative. His initiation into the rituals and customs and (to him)peculiarites of Indian family life make for great reading. But the best section is the sustained amazement and energy of the 10-15 page description of Calcutta(where they have chosen to spend the better part of the year in a mission which caters to scholars) as he rides a rickshaw through its cluttered streets. Over the course of the year Blaise will meet many of Calcutta's elite including its most famous(to the west anyway)citizen, the film maker Satyajit Ray. Calcutta is the major city of Bengal, the eastern most province of India, filled with a proud and cultured people, and Blaise spends many fascinating pages analyzing both its culture and polotics:
The Bengali has lived with the English longer than any Indian, and he has absorbed him,while keeping his own soul, with astounding ease. -p.122
Blaise begins with illusions about India but over the course of his year in Calcutta he learns about its culture and people and the contact with this world different in every imaginable way from his own has a profound impact on him, the way he views the west, and the way he views his marriage.
In counterpoint to Blaise's description of the year is Mukherjee's. She is a westernised Indian who has married outside,and according to her father beneath,her caste and in caste conscious India that is often an unforgivable offense. The Mukherjee girls(Bharati and her sisters)are brilliant and Bharati is beautiful and her novel, The Tigers Daughter, just published to rave reviews, has made her famous in her home country. Her year is marked by equally profound realizations which include increased self awareness of her own very personal way of blending if not bridging the two very distinct cultures of which she is a part:
My aesthetic, then, must accomadate a decidedly Hindu imagination with an Americanized sense of the craft of fiction. To admit to possessing a Hindu imagination is to admit that my concepts of what constitutes a "story" and of narrative structure are noncausal, non-Western.-p.298
But perhaps the most fascinating part of her section is her portrait of her former classmates who have stayed in India and married and now make up the elite. These highly educated women are nonetheless stranded in their homes and live cloistered social lives atop an India which has grown restless and intolerant of the wide divisions that separate the rich from the poor. Riots and robbery are always imminent realities. The women Mukherjee observes clothed in silk saris and gold bracelets and diamond earings in their gated community of mansions in the worlds poorest city seem trapped in a world that they know cannot last. They go on as if immune(or wishing to be) from all the realites around them, a social elite with money to burn but drained of contact and significance to the greater India outside their own very high walls.

Rare book by two excellent writers & one that has not gone through too many reprintings so get a copy while you can. I especially like the sturdy(always good for a travel book) '95 Hungry Mind paperback edition with excellent cover art as well as updated prologues and epilogues by the authors. ... Read more

Book Description

AWolf in the Attic is a powerful memoir written by a psychoanalyst who was a hidden child in Poland during World War II. Her story, in addition to its immediate impact, illustrates her struggle to come to terms with the powerful yet sometimes subtle impact of childhood trauma. A Wolf in the Attic follows the author’s life as she gradually becomes able to reclaim her past, to understand its impact on her life and the choices she has made, and finally, to heal a part of herself that she had been so long taught to deny. ... Read more

Reviews (2)

A Different and Vital Perspective
I thought the book was excellent! I have read dozens of books about the Holocaust and this document certainly offers a different and vital perspective that has not previously been covered in the literature. As you progress through the book, it is quite clear that the after-effects for Holocaust survivors are persistent and nagging, and greatly affect them for the rest of their lives. Sophia Richman's experience demonstrates that tragic events that surround young children can stalk in their minds like "A Wolf in the Attic".

A Unique Perspective on the Holocaust
"A Wolf in the Attic", a memoir by Dr. Sophia Richman adds a valuable perspective to the literature of the Holocaust. Dr. Richman was a hidden child in Poland who survived to tell her story of what it meant to transcend such an ordeal and then go on to try to strive for and fit in with normal life. This work is a unique exposition of a journey to overcome a traumatic past and to engage fully in life under renewed circumstances yet with the past just under the surface. The process of coming to terms with this dicotomy is at the heart of the work and is very moving. Dr. Richman has created a compelling narrative which reveals the two faceted experience of a life of achievement and momentum amidst unconscious symbols of tragedy. The fact that the author was successful in so many ways in overcoming her trauma is an inspiration. Her story is a special one amongst Holocaust memoirs. Dr. Richman's work is highly recommended for its humanity, complexity and poignancy. ... Read more

Amazon.com

If you're like me you only watch "Saturday Night Live" if you're bored our of your gourd or some of your friends are in the featured band. I hate to say it, but the show is simply not funny anymore. And even during the frenetic heyday of SNL, there was a similar show based in Chicago, self-consciously called "Second City TV" that many media afficianados feel was vastly superior to SNL (and in fact, many SNL cast and production staff came to Gotham by way of SCTV, only to be eaten alive).

This is a fun book about an important period of American televisied humor and the people that made it worth watching. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Welcomed...but we want more.
This was a book that definitely should have been written, and thankfully Dave Thomas did us the favor. Second City was a breeding ground for most of the innovative comedians from the mid 70s on. Its contributions to comedy exceed John Mayall's to music. This book deals with those roots and continues to follow the SCTV show, which is the more ideal sketch comedy offsprings. Saturday Night Live, being on NBC, had its control shifted away from the performers to Lorne Michaels and the programming office, whereas SCTV simply translated their stage improvisation to low budget TV with little such interference. It makes for a fascinating study. Where this book falls short is somewhat obvious after a brief looksee. Dave Thomas is an unashamed packrat. He had, over those years, collected everything from the shows. The exhastive tabulation of every sketch in every episode in the appendix is evidence of that. However, that would also be welcomed by SCTV fans in a book outlining the development of each of the sketch characters and perhaps a sketch-by-sketch description with his recollections. Perhaps that should be his next book. (C'mon Dave, what else are you gonna do with all that crap?) Anyway, it's a good two sittings of reading entertainment.

A full history of SCTV if you were a big fan watching it!
This is a very good book with lots of stories and with archives from private collections of the cast members from second city 1976-1984. And a glorious reconstruction of one of the funniest TV shows ever to hit it's airwaves. Like the actors & actresses characters improv sketches they profile to the late John Candy's Mayor Tommy Shanks, Johnny LaRue and Stan Schmenge. Joe Flaherty's Guy Caballero, Sammy Maudlin and Floyd Robertson. Eugene Levy's Bobby Bittman and Earl Camembert. Andrea Martin's Edith Prickley. Catherine O'Hara's Lola Heatherton. Rick Moranis as Skip Bittman Bobby's brother and Bob McKenzie. Martin Short's Ed Grimsley. Dave Thomas's Bob Hope and Doug Bob McKenzie's brother. Harold Ramis now a movie director played as Moe Green. Tony Rosato's cooking with Marcello. Robin Duke I can't remember what characters she did on their? Anyway go behind the scenes and take a trip from the past and learn everything you want to know about it all. And hear it from the author who has written, acted and produced for films and television Dave Thomas himself!

Great primer as I await the DVD release!
This sat on my "wish list" for quite a while because it was unavailable. However, it recently was restocked here at Amazon, and I suspect that it was because of the upcoming release of the first set of DVDs of the show. Well, the wait was worth it, and the timing great! Can't wait to get the DVDs even more now after reading Dave's very interesting, very well produced book. The human stories, the business insights, as well as the hilarious recantings of many legendary skits come together perfectly here. I only wished there were more direct quotes from Eugene and Andrea. It seems Andrea was the most inaccessible, perhaps because of some bad blood between she and Dave (?).

Any true fan of SCTV owes it to themselves to read this book. Very interesting. Very funny.

Blowed Up Good!
For years, I'd been waiting for some kind of compendium of SCTV trivia or a chronology of shows, and when this book came out, I had to buy it.

It's missing commentary from a few of the principal cast members, but overall, well worth the investment. The insight into that one episode with Sir Ralph Richardson and Sir John Gielgud alone is worth it, and it's got a well-balanced view of the show from the producers, to the cast, to the production department, make-up artists, etc.

It's a tragedy that this brilliant show hasn't been put on DVD just yet, but it will. SCTV was far more irreverent than SNL, and much cleverer than Monty-Python, not to mention more prolific. Until then, pick this up as an SCTV primer.

Fantastic Read
All in all a good book that charts one of the most inventive shows in television history. SCTV on a bad day was better than most episodes of Saturday Night Live in my opinion, and this book chronicles the genius behind the show. I would have liked a bit more info on the actor's backgrounds and some of the post SCTV collaborations such as C.M.M. of Ed Grimley - but this book is both heartfelt and well-written, espescially in his honest reporting of the rest of the cast's resentment following his and Moranis' success following Strange Brew. A great read for any fan. ... Read more