The Literary Review of Canada

From the Editor

Universal screening in the form of mammograms for women and PSA tests for men has come under fire this past month, and our lead November essayist, Dr. Charles Wright, a Canadian physician and healthcare consultant, sees those tests as part of a larger picture: the over-medicalization of society. From astronomically costly cancer drugs to alarmingly high rates of Caesarean births, he argues that Canadians are overdosing on health care and calls for an “intelligent, evidence-based approach” to setting limits.

The effects of the economic meltdown of 2008 are still very much with us, and so are the questions about why and how it happened. LRC contributor Janice Gross Stein takes an entirely different tack from the financial commentators in her essay, “Between Euphoria and Fear,” in which she dissects the emotions underpinning the financial moves of experts and lay investors alike. Conventional microeconomists might look askance at Stein’s analysis of instincts, feelings and mood swings, but our readers can judge for themselves the validity of her arguments.

Volume Two of John English’s authoritative Trudeau biography has appeared, under a title that will ring bells. Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau 1968-2000 takes that enigmatic politician through his prime ministerial years and beyond. Our reviewer, Paul Wells of Maclean’s magazine, praises English’s work but then asks provocatively why we are so obsessed with Canada’s 15th prime minister and whether more books about him are really needed.

And on the culture front, don’t miss Globe and Mail writer Kate Taylor’s review of Art and Politics: The History of the National Arts Centre, a “powerful” piece of historical research written by Ottawa cultural journalist Sarah Jennings on the occasion of the Centre’s 40th anniversary.

Enjoy our November issue!

Bronwyn Drainie
Editor

In this Issue

• Too Much Health Care

  An essay

  By Charles J. Wright

• We’re Still Watching

  A review of Just Watch Me: The Life of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, 1968–2000, by John English

  By Paul Wells

• Between Euphoria and Fear

  An essay

  By Janice Gross Stein

• Palace on the Rideau

  A review of Sarah Jennings' Art and Politics: The History of the National Arts Centre

  By Kate Taylor

• Shopping ’Til We Drop

  A review of The Price of a Bargain: The Quest for Cheap and the Death of Globalization, 
by Gordon Laird

  By Tom Slee

• Prepping for Privilege

  A review of The Best of the Best: Becoming Elite at an American Boarding School, by Rubén A. Gaztambide-Fernández

  By Stephen Zeifman

• Freedom Redefined

  A review of Public Philosophy in a New Key, Volume 1: Democracy and Civic Freedom
and Volume 2: Imperialism and Civic Freedom, by James Tully

  By Daniel Marc Weinstock

• Derailed

  A Choral Documentary

  By John Beckwith

• Stations

  A poem

  By Sheila Stewart

• The Past As It Ought to Be

  A review of The Heart Specialist, by Claire Holden Rothman

  By Jacalyn Duffin

• From the Somme to Guernica

  A review of Underground, by June Hutton

  By Robert McGill

• Right-Wing Cabals?

  A review of Not a Conspiracy Theory: 
How Business Propaganda Hijacks Democracy, by Donald Gutstein

  By Evert Lindquist

• Bleak Island

  A review of The Blythes Are Quoted, by L.M. Montgomery, edited by Benjamin Lefebvre

  By Noreen Golfman

• The Honest Adman

  A review of The Age of Persuasion: 
How Marketing Ate Our Culture, by Terry O’Reilly and Mike Tennant

  By David Dunne

• Lest We Forget

  A review of Canadians Fighting the Great War 1914–18, Volume 1: At the Sharp End and Volume 2: Shock Troops, by Tim Cook

  By James Roots

• Cover art and pictures throughout the issue by Ben Clarkson

  Ben Clarkson is a multidisciplinary artist and illustrator based in Winnipeg. To view more of his work visit www.thebenclarkson.com.