It will inspire discussion. It has Things to Say, but unlike most such books, the story always remains the most important thing. Its cooking scenes will inspire you to the kitchen or a good local restaurant, and its villain, Dante Beale, springs to life from the novel's pages. Oh, man, is he one great character. Since the free-trade debate of the late 1980s, more and more people have realized that our Canadian world is changing.
Trouble is, nobody understands what's really going on.
This is the underlying question at the centre of our 21st-century existence. Pico Iyer's latest book, The Global Soul, was a help. Their insights on the power and drawbacks of the rootlessness that characterizes our global age were as profound as any academic's. For those of you who don't need to be reminded that the best authors are all keen judges of character and their times, please be forgiving. I was drowning in numbers when I had this realization.