Who are we? Not since the publication of Bruce Hutchison’s bestselling The Unknown Country has there been as ambitious, entertaining, and incisive an answer to that eternal question.
As a journalist and author for more than thirty years, Roy MacGregor has travelled this vast country more than any other Canadian in pursuit of the often elusive national identity. A modern-day Canadian Zelig, he has gained privileged entrée into the most interesting and significant moments in recent Canadian history, and spent time with some of its most memorable people.
In this perceptive and entertaining work, MacGregor takes the full measure of Canadian life as he has known and observed it. Against the backdrop of pivotal events such as Meech Lake, the funeral of Pierre Elliott Trudeau, and the 2006 Winter Olympics, and in a sparkling blend of historical, anecdotal, and reflective writing, MacGregor captures essential truths about who we are and what makes us tick, shedding light on everything from hockey, our “national id,” to our highly exportable, and perhaps highly debatable, sense of humour, to our ever-shifting self-image, both at home and abroad. With trenchant wit and deep intelligence, he maps the fault lines of our national psyche, finding it rife with contradiction on everything from our attachment to the land to our fatalism about the future, our complex relationship with each other to our on-again, off-again affair with our neighbour to the south.
Learned in perception, deft in delivery, Canadians is a love letter, a wakeup call, a session on the couch, and a celebration of the richness and diversity of this country and its people.
"In the quest to define our national identity, the most essential question was aked by the greatest of our literary critics, Northrop Frye: "Where is 'here?'" Finally we have the answer: in the pages of Roy MacGregor's magnificent new book, Canadians."
—Peter C. Newman
"A remarkable book...Roy MacGregor of The Globe and Mail has come as close to capturing the feel and flavour of Canada as words allow."
—Carol Goar, Toronto Star
"Writing a book that tries to explain Canada to Canadians is in many ways a gift....MacGregor unfolds a fascinating depiction of Canada...Canadians is a sprawling book. But it does capture the essence of our diversity, it does evoke the spirit of this beautiful, undefinable set of contradictions that make up Canada....A couple of the chapters are powerful enough to bring a reader to tears."
—Aritha Van Herk, Calgary Herald
"Canadians is an impressive attempt to get at the heart of the country and its people....MacGregor has long been considered one of Canada's finest journalists, and this volume serves as something of a sampler and encapsulation of his talents. ....Canadians stands as a superior example of reportage, and a reckoning of a journalistic career of more than three decades....MacGregor has a unique ability to balance objective reportage with a keen, emotional core; he has a good eye for the human interest angle, which intensifies his editorial thrust, rather than distracting from it....Canadians is, in the final reckoning, a series of snapshots of our varied and diverse cultures, an insight into worlds and events that may be utterly foreign to some of us, but are, at their heart, fundamentally our own."
—Ottawa Citizen
"If passion for our country counts, Roy MacGregor certainly has it. In Canadians he shares that passion with us again, leavened with a generous sprinkling of humour. Perhaps, as he says himself, it is only another exercise in examining our own belly-button lint, but if so, I never imagined lint could be so fascinating."
—Hamilton Spectator
"MacGregor writes about us while at the same time seamlessly identifying himself as one of us. Canadians is a charming book, and MacGregor is a graceful writer."
—Winnipeg Free Press
"He brings a rare –and trust me, admirable – touch to his work....a worthy and entertaining effort, reminding us of shameful shortcomings and how we can get it so right, even spectacularly so....In many ways, travelling over time, topics and geography, often courtesy of MacGregor's first-person, on-site observations, by anecdotes and quotations, Canadians the book reflects that. The overall effect after a read offers quiet, clear-eyed reassurance."
—Edmonton Journal
