From Amazon
He may not know it--and he may not even want the job--but author and humourist Will Ferguson is poised to replace Pierre Berton as national keeper of the facts. Think about it: both men are clearly obsessed with Canada, its history and wrinkles and seams. Both conjure characters from the past to help explain our present. Both have forgotten more about this country than most of us will ever know. The key difference between them, if a metaphor might be permitted, is that while Berton tends to move vertically through the annals of Canada, Ferguson moves horizontally. And he's funnier. So it is with Ferguson's travel memoir, Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw. The author grabs us by the hand for a guided coast-to-coast tour of the country, peppering each stop with factoids. In Alberta, we learn that boreal forest covers one-third of our overall landscape. On a polar bear excursion in Manitoba, we discover that the Arctic fox has the warmest, thickest fur on earth. And at Lake Superior, we are reminded that half the world's fresh water supply resides here. But Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw is more than just a grocery list of information. As with his bestselling How to Be a Canadian, Ferguson attempts to capture the essence of Canada, this time through topography and history. Take this passage lifted from his visit to Newfoundland. "This wasn't Ireland. It was Ireland lost. And Ireland found. It was Ireland cast adrift and washed up on a cold island. It was Ireland reconstructed, like a portrait assembled by someone working from memory, getting the mood right if not the details." Beauty Tips gets the mood and the details just right, with some welcome conjecture and lots on winking humour thrown in. Required reading for Canucks and wannabes. --Kim Hughes