The Disbeliever's Dictionary: A Gleefully Disrespectful Lexicon of Canada Today

by Brian Fawcett

Brian Fawcett believes that every Canadian ought to be developing their own independent lexicons to take the measure of life in Canada at the end of the twentieth century. The Disbeliever's Dictionary is Fawcett's citizenly shot at defining Canada through the fog of misinformation, disinformation, ideology, and outright lies that surround us. At once wry, iconoclastic, non-dogmatically serious and laugh-out loud funny, this book is equally jeremiad, lament for a nation, and do-it-yourself resistance manifesto.

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Dennis Bolen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less slick and elaborate an offering than last year's *Mondo Canuck*, which also threw an irreverent lob at various Canadian characters, symbols, myths and values we might hold dear, Mr. Fawcett's, *The Disbeliever’s Dictionary* is at least a book wherein we are not compelled to read two parallel texts at the same time, something which has put me off his previous tomes. In fact there is actual entertainment in his often caustic opinion on subjects as disparate as sports personalities and the political system.

The pans are many and frequent: I particularly enjoyed his toss-off of Peter C. Newman: `...author of popular histories that don’t sell very well.' And Bryan Adams: `Gravel-voiced androgynous Vancouver musician distinguished by his ability to discover and cover the musical equivalent of dead neutral.' Less fun are the picks: Regarding Linda McQuaig: `...arguably the only left of centre analyst who understands the monetary and banking systems.' Of Svend Robinson: `...the most intelligent NDP MP since T.C. Douglas...’ Occasional non-clarity is off-putting, as in the discussion of Northrop Frye: `His opus, while not toxic in and of itself, has led to a functional separation between those who create literature and those who process it for industrial reasons, and has virtually ended any serious study of domestic literature in the country.’ Huh?

A former Vancouver boy, Mr. Fawcett spent several years living in Toronto before passing away in 2022. Maybe his Upper Canada time is why he thought his opinion about everything was worth our reading. Aside from the odd lapse in factual veracity - Preston Manning is noted to be wearing contact lenses when in fact he had had laser surgery - the biggest quibble I have is with the title. In what are we disbelieving? Is it in the utter Canuckedness of this country or is it in the testy offerings of this book?