[.ca] Sacre Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec (ISBN 1551990814)

excellent read!:
I could not put this book down and I loved his writing style! Fun, informative and thought provoking. What more could you ask for? My grandmother was Quebecois but I knew nothing about Quebec and Canada. Now I feel like I have a pretty good basis for understanding and learning more about Canada and it's place in the world. A lot of his discussions he applies to the U.S. as well. He's mastered the interconnections between people, places, events and history and presents them so well.

Québec in a nutshell...:
I saw a review of "Sacré Blues" in a Canadian newspaper (I don't remember which one) and decided that, since I was in Québec and frankly quite clueless regarding many aspects of Québec history and culture, I picked up a copy at an Archambault in Sainte-Foy. I had resolved to put it away for the return train trip to Toronto, but I started reading a little bit each night. At some points in the book I was laughing out loud so much my neighbours must have wondered about my sanity. I spent a month in Québec and plan to return often, and "Sacré Blues" helped me to understand some of the issues in modern Québec. I have taken a Québécois civilisation course, but there are many topics in the book that elaborated on things we had touched on in class, such as Québécois winters, language, popular culture, famous people, the strange and fascinating addiction to cholesterol-laden food (poutine! May Wests! Pepsi!), tabloid newspapers, politics, the Floribécois (retired Québécois who migrate in droves to Florida every winter), Céline Dion, and much, much more. Grescoe writes with tongue-in-cheek humour that sometimes amounts to laugh-out-loud guffawing, such as the Québec Language Police...something that I evidence firsthand. Some of the topics seemed to go on for much too long, but generally the book is funny and informative, sort of a mini-introduction to Québec. Very well written, with a glossary of terms and famous Québécois, important dates, and cultural notes.

A fantastic look at Quebec:
I have considered moving to Quebec and this book has made me both want to move there immediately and also be cautious about it - that's how evenhanded his writing is. I feel like I have learned a lot about the people of Quebec, more than one can learn from a travel guide or a history book. His writing style practically takes you there. If you are interested in learning about the real Quebec and can't go there yet, this is the next best thing. I highly recommend this book.

Great book!:
I've never lived in Quebec - only visited briefly several times. I've always believed Quebec is a very different province from the rest but could never quite explain it to my fellow anglophones any better than my superficial experiences there. The author does an amazing job in explaining the depth of Quebec's culture and what makes it truely unique within Canada. It's not excessively historical or political but offers enough background on most aspects of the Quebecois to help the rest of us gain a better understanding.

Ah, so that's why...:
Don't you wish there were more books like these out there?! As an Ontarian, I was curious to know what the province of Quebec was all about (apart from all the stereotypes). We know that it has dished out poutine, Celine Dion and Cirque du Soleil, but there had to be more to it than that... Taras has brilliantly explained the nuances of what makes a Quebecker (and Quebec) tick, and it makes for a brilliant read- lots of "ah-ha! moments). From "Moving Day", to "joual", to bringing your own wine to dine out, this will be my handbook on my next trip to Quebec.