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The Worst Truth: Regarding A History of Canadian Fiction by David Staines
Produced as a limited-edition chapbook, The Worst Truth is John Metcalf’s long-form review of A History of Canadian Fiction by David Staines.
61 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 9, 2022
This 60+-page pamphlet, a sustained review of A History of Canadian Fiction by David Staines, holds up that book for dismissal and ridicule. Omitted authors from Staines' history include (a partial list): David Helwig, Ann Ireland, Mark Jarman, Leon Rooke, Rebecca Rosenblum, and Anakana Schofield. Pages are spent on Margaret Laurence and Morley Callaghan, and a host of writers who seem best relegated to a paragraph.
"As ludicrous judgement followed ludicrous judgement," Metcalf writes, "it dawned on me that there existed the possibility that Professor Staines really does not understand the words on the page, that he cannot actually read." Instead of analysis, as is shown in extensive quotations, Staines offers plot summaries that make the most vacuous review you've ever read appear substantial.
This booklet arrived with the latest issue of Canadian Notes & Queries and was a most welcome surprise addition.
"As ludicrous judgement followed ludicrous judgement," Metcalf writes, "it dawned on me that there existed the possibility that Professor Staines really does not understand the words on the page, that he cannot actually read." Instead of analysis, as is shown in extensive quotations, Staines offers plot summaries that make the most vacuous review you've ever read appear substantial.
This booklet arrived with the latest issue of Canadian Notes & Queries and was a most welcome surprise addition.
January 3, 2024
Furious takedown of a half-assed "history" of Canadian fiction.
Metcalf is cranky and wants you to know it. He's largely focused on correcting (and mocking) Big-Time errors, but will occasionally descend from his throne to slap the writer in question, David Staines, around a little bit for fun.
His jabs can be funny, and he takes on anyone who deserves it, in his mind. But some asides are overwhelmingly petty (bemoaning Andre Alexis's Giller Win for 'Fifteen Dogs,' for example).
Overall, though: learned a lot about Canadian fiction, read some stunning excerpts, and cheered on a one-sided literary fight.
Metcalf is cranky and wants you to know it. He's largely focused on correcting (and mocking) Big-Time errors, but will occasionally descend from his throne to slap the writer in question, David Staines, around a little bit for fun.
His jabs can be funny, and he takes on anyone who deserves it, in his mind. But some asides are overwhelmingly petty (bemoaning Andre Alexis's Giller Win for 'Fifteen Dogs,' for example).
Overall, though: learned a lot about Canadian fiction, read some stunning excerpts, and cheered on a one-sided literary fight.
July 10, 2022
Bracing and entertaining, this brisk essay even compelled me to question some of my unexamined acceptance of what constitutes a Canadian "classic" ...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews