Spring 2008 Volume 22 - No. 1 - BC BookWorld

33 BC BOOKWORLD SPRING 2008reviewsIT SHOULD BECHEWASSENChewassen, Tsawwassen or Chiltinm:The Land Facing the Sea by GwenSzychter ( tel:604-946-4890; $35 )Having self-publishedtwo books on Ladner,Gwen Szychter is backwith Chewassen, Tsawwassen orChiltinm: The Land Facing the Sea,an illustrated guide to buildingsand early settlers of Tsawwassen,excluding Point Roberts.Szychter explains her oddchoice of title: “I would havemuch preferred to be using theolder and more pleasing‘Chewassen’ to refer to this area.However, it has been known verballyand popularly since 1946by the spelling ‘Tsawwassen,’with no standard pronunciation,a situation that was dumped onus by a nameless, faceless bureaucratat the GeographicBoard of Canada, to be appliedto ‘the beach near PointRoberts.’ I have, therefore,opted for the name and spellingof modern usage, eventhough I like it not at all. Thefinal variation, Chiltinm, is whatthe Corboulds perceived as theIndian name for the area. Foryour own personal enjoyment,I’d like you to know that theworking title of this book was‘Tsawwassen: From Picnics toPotatoes to Palm Trees.’ I am notsure why I chose to go with amore formal title in the end, butI certainly acknowledge that I’vechosen to convey a Euro-Canadianview of the land.”FREE REIN TOFREE SPEECH978-0-9680951-4-0The Host and the Parasite: How Israel’sFifth Column Consumed America byGreg Felton (Dandelion/The Author $40)Dedicated to the WorldWide Web, “the lasthope for a free press,”Greg Felton’s The Host and theParasite: How Israel’s Fifth ColumnConsumed America is ostensibly anattempt to provide the impartialreader—folks who remainperplexed by petropolitics andnew & established writersongoing hatreds withinthe so-called HolyLand—with a livelyprimer on how theworld has gone to hellin a handbasket in theMiddle East. Abouthalfway through his vituperativebut compellingbarrage ofpro-Palestinian historicalanalysis—in whichhe pummels the allegedcollusion betweenthe Bush/Cheney “oilochracy”and the state of Israel—Felton sets out to debunkthe “demonized”image of Osama binLaden. For that reasonalone, some Jews, andmany non-Jews, will preferto dismiss Felton’sprolonged screedas hate literature,as unforgivable anti-Semitism. But it should be notedthat Felton’s disdain for so-calledmainstream media is equally intense.The vast sweep of Felton’soverview is not dissimilar toNaomi Klein’s one-size-fits-allanalytic approach to debunkingneo-liberalism and its collusionwith the World Bank. If you canscrape together enough facts tosuit your argument, youcan hold the courtroomof public opinion spellboundwith your zeal. Togive both sides of an argument,on the otherhand, runs the risk ofbeing dismissed as wishywashy.Felton, an inveterateletter-to-the-editor guy,does dish out a host ofintriguing details that neverseem to get aired on CBS orCNN and all those other newsoutlets that run the gamut ofopinion from A to B. For instance,Felton points out thatCondoleeza Rice, Bush’s Secretaryof State, was a director ofChevron from 1991 to 2001. Sowho knew that Chevron, as aparting gesture, named a$1,500Creative Non-FictionContestThree winners will each receive $500 plus payment for publication in Event 37/3. Other manuscripts may be published.Final Judge: Timothy Taylor is an award-winning journalist and bestselling author. He is a columnistwith The Globe and Mail and the recipient of three National Magazine Awards.Writers are invited to submit manuscripts exploring the creative non-fiction form. Back issues of Eventwith previous winning entries and judges’ comments are available for $7.35 (inc. GST and postage).Note: Previously published material cannot be considered. Maximum entry length is 5000words, typed, double-spaced. Include a separate cover sheet with the writer’s name, address,phone number / email, and the title(s) of the story (stories) enclosed. Enclose a SASE (Canadianpostage / IRCs / US$1). Douglas College employees are not eligible to enter.Entry Fee: Each entry must be accompanied by a $29.95 entry fee (includes GST and a one-yearsubscription or extension; make cheque or international money order payable to Event). Americanand overseas entrants please pay in US dollars.Deadline for Entries: Postmarked by April 15, 2008.P.O. Box 2503, New Westminster, BCCanada V3L 5B2Phone: (604) 527-5293 Fax: (604) 527-5095Email: event@douglas.bc.caVisit our website at http://event.douglas.bc.ca136,000-ton tanker CondoleezaRice? Upon her ascension to theWhite House, Chevron changedthe name to the less noticeableAltair Voyager.Felton traces how someChristians in the U.S. have cometo view Israel’s ascendancy as theillumination of biblical prophecy—God’swill in action—tothe continuing detrimentof Palestinians.Felton writes forthe Arabic/EnglishCanadian Arab News.A falling-out with hisArizona-based bookpublisher has resultedin him sellinghis own book directlyfrom his home.“Real power doesnot lie with the White House orCongress,” he pronounces, “itlies with the Jewish, Christianand Straussian pressure groupsthat tell the president and Congresswhat to do.”It’s up to each reader to decidewhether or not Felton’s filibusterof fury is usefulcommentary or a missile from acrackpot. 978-1-893302-97-6GOALIANISLA NDINDIESClearingland in WestVancouver,1915While serving on the West Vancouver Heritage Advisory Committee, ElspethBradbury has produced a coffee table book on the forestry of that area asa fundraiser for the Lighthouse Park Preservation Society, West Vancouver:A View Through the Trees (District of West Vancouver $40). The collaborativeeffort, that includes extensive historical information, was edited by Valerie Frith.Bradbury credits the help of publishing insiders Don and Barbara Atkins, JimDouglas, Rob Sanders, Mark Stanton, historian Doreen Armitage, projectcoordinator Hugh Johnston and dozens of others. 978-0-9784147-0-2Greg FeltonA ROUBLE FORHIS THOUGHTSLooking Through Glasnost by Gil Parker(Victoria: Aware Publishing $21.95)After 1991, when the communisthierarchy of 74years collapsed throwingthe Soviet Union into turmoil,the market economy failed tomaterialize and western moneydisappeared into the hands ofthe oligarchs. The expectationsof the people were dashed, theirpersonal savings erased by successivedevaluations of the rouble.Gil Parker’s Looking ThroughGlasnost describes a dozen personalvisits by the former engineerand mountain climber,prompted by a Rotary Club ‘sister-city’initiative in 1988. Overa 15-year period, Parker exploredGeorgia, Lithuania,Uzbekistan, and Russia east towest, befriended many Sovietcitizens, learned Russian andcame to understand the crumblingCommunist model and thefaltering democracy that replacedit.978-0-9736906-1-3We areelebratingC10thAourREX & NAPOLEONCurious Little World: A Self-Imposed Exileon St. Helena Island by Rex Bartlett(Gabriola Island: Toppermost Books$21.95)Rex Bartlett’s Curious Little World: ASelf-Imposed Exile on St. Helena Islandmainly recounts how he andhis partner Cynthia Barefoot went to liveon the tiny island where Napoleon died,halfway between Africa and SouthAmerica. They bought an abandonedhouse sight unseen, lacking plumbing,electricity and telephone.As an ex-musician, Bartlett’s self-deprecatingcharm is as appealing as theexotic locale of his memoir. He recallsbeing Neil Young’spaperboy in Winnipegand travellingto buy guitarstrings in Hibbing,Minnesota, BobDylan’s birthplace,hoping the stringswould bring themNapoleon luck in their newband.“But just outside of Hibbing, werounded a curve in the highway and approacheda huge banner strung acrossthe road. The sign didn’t say, ‘Welcometo Hibbing, Bob Dylan’s Hometown’ likeit should. Instead it said, ‘Welcome toHibbing, World’s Largest Open Pit IronMine.’ I knew right then that I had beenwrong. The sign was a sign. Well, obviouslythe sign was a sign. Anyone couldsee that the sign was a sign, but I couldsee that the sign was an omen.“The silver strings would not bring usfame. They would hold no magic. I staredat the vast obscene open pit iron mineand realized that my piercing Joan-of-Arc-sy vision had been nothing more thana post-Klik hallucination. Chastened andhumiliated, we returned to the Winnie-The-Pooh Capital of the World.”978-0-978-3927-0-3[P.O Box 319 Gabriola Island, BC V0R 1X0]ALSO RECEIVEDColleen O’Connor, Cry of the Phoenix(Cat’s Eye Enterprises $19.95)978-0-9783988-0-4---------------------------------------------------Terry Julian, The Seduction of SurveysIn Canada’s Federal Elections (SignaturePublishing $14.95) 978-1-4251355-4-6--------------------------------------------------Bruce Batchelor, Book Marketing Demystified(Agio $14.95)978-1-897435-00-7---------------------------------------------------Eleanor Millard, Journeys Outside andIn (Self-published $24.95) 0-9782817-0-5---------------------------------------------------Anne Brevig, Years on the 7 Seas (SevenSeas Press, $36.95) 0973758201---------------------------------------------------Glen Lovett, The Adventures of Jasper:Lost in Skookum Valley (Lovett Pictures$18.95) 978-0-9783116-1-2nniversaryOpen year-round with over 25,000 titlesplus a great selection of Canadian authors,art supplies and gifts.Join us for readings and book launches.76 Madrona Drive Galiano Island BC V0N 1P0250 539-3340 ltrent@uniserve.com