Far from useful to students of Canadian literature, this is a collection of undergraduate essays colored more by frustration and anger than any kind of literary sensibility. The author seems to think pompous and convulated obscurities are preferable to objective clarity, and the result is an amateurish mixture of idolatry and adolescent revenge. I'm amazed it ever got published, unless the author funded it himself.

Overall, I cannot say that this is a good book on the subject of Hamilton artists. It's quite obvious from the very first chapter that the book is more conerned with the works of only two individuals, and neither of them are actually from Hamilton! One is a Burlington native and the other comes from Toronto. I was trying to find general information on artists who were actually from Hamilton. This book's title made it sound like that's what it was about, but the book's content was a different story and ended up leaving me very diappointed.

You know what, i hate this book. It kinda sucks

Hardly a complete reference, and not really about Canadian wines, either. More like a rough guide to wineries ... but some of the winery information is wrong or outdated. Unfortunately, the only thing between covers that even attempts the subject. Aspler gives a good, brief, history of the development of the wine industry in Canada, particularly Ontario. As well, there is an informative tailpiece on Icewine, arguably Canada's greatest contribution to wine. Still, this book could have been much, much more.

This poetry is full of itself. While there are 1 or 2 ok poems in the book, the crummy layout make it hardly worth the effort. Pretentiousness, and poor taste.

What we can learn from the Canadian experience is best summarized in the following excerpt from Canada's McCleans weekly magazine March 1 1999:

"For Canadians in need of urgent medical care, the nation's hospitals all too often appear to be in a state of crisis. Horror stories abound--of patients turned away from hospitals, of cancelled surgeries, and cancer patients flown across the country or to the United States for treatment that cannot be delivered closer to home. In Toronto, a 45-year-old cystic fibrosis victim missed out on an urgently needed double lung transplant on Feb. 3; the operation had to be cancelled--and the donated lungs discarded -- because no bed or nursing crew could be found."

Articles abound in McCleans as well as the New York Times, Forbes, etc. in the US about Canada's failing system. Forbes reports Canadian doctors leaving Canada in droves. In fact, skilled people in general are leaving Canada's failed welfare state for the US.

To complete the socialist model perhaps in the authors next book Mr. Armstrong could discuss how the US revert to a command and control economy - you know, like the ones that were so successful in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.

Of all the British Columbia travel guides, one of them has to be the least useful. In my opinion, this is the one. The credentials of the authors seem solid enough and coverage is broad (Alberta is also included), but beyond that there's little good to say. It's the shortest of the major guides, is of poor quality (the binding fell apart almost immediately on my copy), and the information is superficial and now very outdated. I guess I should have known better before buying by looking at the cover: the picture of Moraine Lake has been inverted, reflecting both back-to-front mountains and the lack of care that's gone into this book.