Reviews (Page 3)

A History of Celibacy, Harper Collins, 1999, $32, by Elizabeth Abbott, MA'66, PhD'71. And you thought celibacy could only be dull, unimpassioned stuff. Elizabeth Abbott, dean of women at Trinity College, University of Toronto, and a practising celibate herself, has written the definitive history of a subject most of us want nothing to do with, given our druthers, and it's a fascinating, lively and moving tome indeed. Abbott looks at celibacy from antiquity to AIDS and presents readers living in the Age of Gratification with the startling fact that not everyone on the planet is looking to get it on. Whether she's dealing with Rome's Vestal Virgins, Florence Nightingale, Sir Isaac Newton, Mahatma Gandhi, contemporary anorexics or the late 20th century Power Virgin movement, Abbott takes us into the lives of celibates, both willing and forced, noble and deluded, throughout history and across continents and cultures. A stimulating book.

Live It Up In Montreal, Lorio Publications, 1999, $16.95, by Isabel Pappe, BA'74. Not your average tourist guide, this very handy directory is geared more towards the native Montrealer than the visitor and has over 2,000 listings for recreation, sports and leisure in the city and surrounding area. Whether you are looking for biking trails, golf courses, hobby clubs, cooking, dancing, music or language courses, lectures, activities for seniors, or almost anything else, this book can point you in the right direction. Live It Up In Montreal includes descriptions, contact information, including e-mail and websites, and is easy to use. Who would have thought there were four different places in Montreal to take trapeze courses? Essential for couch potatoes looking to add something new to their routine.

International Order and the Future of World Politics, Cambridge University Press, 1999, $37.50, by T.V. Paul and John A. Hall. A collection of scholarly articles edited by two McGill professors, the book assesses the emerging international order, and looks at the problems posed by globalization, nationalism, ethnic and religious conflicts, environmental degradation, and the diffusion of mass weapons of destruction. The essayists also examine the contenders for world leadership — the United States, Russia, China, the European Union, Japan and India.

The Class of 1861: Custer, Ames and Their Classmates after West Point, Southern Illinois University Press, 1999, $US 34.95, by Ralph Kirshner, BA'71. Using letters, journal entries and first- hand accounts, Ralph Kirshner tells the story of these military cadets who graduated into duty in the Civil War. Two classes finished West Point in 1861 because of President Lincoln's urgent need for officers. Among the second group of 34 graduates was George Armstrong Custer, who finished at the bottom of his class. Several became "boy generals" and, sadly, many former classmates ended up on opposite sides of the terrible conflict. With a foreword by George Plimpton, great-grandson of Adelbert Ames, who later became governor of Mississippi and was the longest surviving Civil War general.

Le Québec dans l'espace américain, Collection Débats, 1999, Québec Amérique, $26.95. La collection Débats est une collaboration entre les éditions Québec Amérique et le Programme d'études sur le Québec de McGill. Ce livre offre un panorama du rôle et de la singularité du Québec en Amérique du Nord, révélant à la fois la profondeur de l'américanité des Québécois et leur attachement à ce vaste ensemble géographique. Que ce soit au niveau économique ou culturel, l'avenir du Québec ne saurait se comprendre sans tenir compte de ses relations avec son voisin du sud.

A Complete Waste of Time, Pace Productivity Inc., revised 1999, $19.95, by Mark Ellwood, BCom'78. Ever wonder where the time goes? Well, Mark Ellwood knows the answer and in this updated edition of A Complete Waste of Time, he tells us how we can get more control of our lives through effective use of meetings, e-mail, voice mail, etc. But the message is not aimed only at business people; Ellwood includes tips on planning family vacations and scheduling TV time, and deals with problem solving, procrastination and clutter of all kinds. Serious strategies are interspersed with what he calls "witty stories," like the "Diary of a File Folder." We've put off deciding whether they're more annoying than helpful, but will reread the book once we figure out which pile it's in...

Radar, Hula Hoops and Playful Pigs, ECW Press, 1999, $16.95, by Joe Schwarcz, BSc'69, PhD'74. Subtitled "67 digestible commentaries on the fascinating chemistry of everyday life," this book offers McGill chemistry professor Joe Schwarcz yet another avenue for sharing his enthusiasm for science. Through his radio phone-in show, weekly newspaper column and regular appearances on the Discovery Channel, he makes us a little smarter about what we're buying to eat, to wear and to keep ourselves and our homes clean and attractive. For years he and colleagues Ariel Fenster, PhD'73, and David Harpp toured North America with "The Magic of Chemistry," a blend of chemical demonstrations, slides, music and magic. The appetite for this kind of information seems only to be growing, and Schwarcz here serves up just what people want.

How We Negotiate, Empyreal Press, 1999, $12, by Maxianne Berger, BSc'69, MSc'73. In this first collection of poems, Berger gently muses on all aspects of daily life, with wry humour and wonderful images. Love-struck adolescents are "like ten pins set up to be knocked down." In "Out of Sight," Berger deftly captures middle age with a single sentence: She spots/her lost glasses/ square on the head of some/surprised woman in the front hall/mirror. Highly personal poems about the universal condition.

The Prophet of the Plains, Shoreline, 1999, $11.95, by Robert H. Tessier. A former teacher in the Faculty of Music, Tessier's book-length declamatory poem features native leader Grey Elk confronting representatives of early settlers and government, pleading for a return to respect and love of nature and a re-evaluation of current destructive environmental practices.