Sacre Blues: An Unsentimental Journey Through Quebec (ISBN 1551990814)

Outstanding Overview of Quebec:
For those with more than a casual interest in what the province of Quebec is all about, this book by multilingual Canadian journalist Grescoe is an excellent, evenhanded place to start. The twelve chapters do an admirable job of untangling the complicated web of ethnic, linguistic, political, and religious identities that make up Quebec. Grescoe gets things off to a quick start in the first chapter, providing a grab bag of examples of how the province is different from its Canadian and American neighbors: attitudes toward cheese, margarine, gun control, gay rights, smoking, the legal system, pornography, and more quickly get the point across. The chapter also establishes the tone for the rest of the book, as it ranges freely over the subject matter, sometimes doubling back, sometimes repeating itself, often employing statistics, but always in the service of trying to understand Quebec. Chapter two has a brief history of the province's settlement, and quickly debunks the myth of the prevalence of "pure" francophone founders. This segues into an overview of Quebec's Jews, which leads to a discussion of recent immigration, and the whole notion of how a modern multicultural province can exist with a mythology of racial purity lurking in the background. Chapter three deals exclusively with the influence of France as a "mother country" which naturally leads to the next chapter, which is a lengthy examination of Quebecois French. Here, the author has an embarrassment of riches in terms of examples, however they are perhaps best appreciated by readers with a solid understanding of French. Grescoe is a journalist, so it's not surprising that he devotes the entirety of chapter five to an exploration of the robust Quebecois print media. It's an interesting way of looking at a place, and not a lens one commonly encounters -- ultimately he concludes that as in many places around the world: "in Quebec, we're not likely to see serious coverage of issues that would threaten political and corporate power." It's a short hop from print to television, which is covered in the next chapter. Obviously television provides an interesting window onto a society and how it views itself -- especially in Quebec, where people watch more TV than in any other province. Grescoe dives right in, examining some of the popular genres and shows, as well as touching upon Celine Dion. The pop culture focus continues in chapter seven, which is a series of 21 brief profiles of Quebecois singers, writers, filmmakers, events, and stuff, most of which will be completely unfamiliar to outsiders (except for Circle du Soleil) but are well known in the province. It's cutely a good chapter to quickly dip into to get a sense of some of the differences discussed throughout the book. In contrast to the relative lightheartedness of the previous chapter, chapter eight is about Quebec's native population (currently around 75,000 from 11 different Indian nations) and their grievances. As in the rest of the continent, Quebec's native population has gotten the shaft ever since colonizers first arrived. Grescoe talks to various tribal representatives, and an ironically unpleasant picture emerges of a province clamoring for the right of self-determination in order to escape external cultural and economic domination -- only to deny these very same claims by the native population. The next chapter discusses both the actual Quebecois winter and the idea of winter in the province's mythology. This naturally also involves a trip to Florida, where a huge number of retired Quebecois spend the harsh winter months. Chapter ten is a good overview about the province's economy and business climate, including a visit to multinational transportation giant Bombardier. This is followed by a chapter about religion and change, more specifically about the shocking decline in practicing Catholics in the last forty years. Again, with remarkable evenhandedness, Grescoe finds a lot of good and bad in this cultural development. In many ways, it's a reflection of the same kind of cultural tug-of-wars that have gone on in the U.S. since the '60s, with many of the same tensions. The final chapter attempts to sum up Grescoe's three years of observing Quebec and perhaps unsurprisingly, for better and for worse, he sees increasing globalization as a erosive force on the province's distinct identity. Grescoe's done a wonderful job of cutting to the core of things while keeping his writing lively and accessible. Each chapter is about a topic that would take an entire book to completely cover, and yet with a mix of on the scenes reportage, statistics, interviews with politicians, businessmen, intellectuals, artists, experts, and people on the street, Grescoe manages to avoid superficiality and present the complex issues. Although occasionally repetitive and cursed with an awful cover, it's highly recommended for anyone with more than a passing interest in Quebec, especially those intending to visit.

Even Better Than Being There:
In my youth Quebec was a vast country of farms still plowed by horses. There were so many religious that priests and nuns did missionary duty in the States. Francophones were indifferent to British rule. Then, seemingly overnight, this quaint civilization collapsed. Pastures became golf courses. Couples bore their children out of wedlock. Francophones took charge of their culture and country. In 1995 their ballots came within a fraction of a percentage point of independence. The 60s and 70s saw this "quiet revolution" that knocked down doors already tottering in decrepitude. What an immense change in so short a time! I have always been curious about francophone culture, but could never quite crack it. My travels to Canada were too infrequent and my schoolboy French worthless. Bilingual friends ignored contentious talk. Sacre Blues is the rare book that gets inside Quebecois culture and language. You will learn about the famous Bill 101, attitudes toward anglophones, allophones, Americans and French. Lots of tidbits about joual and Quebecois curses. All the significant artists, media people and industrialists get a few paragraphs. There are some interesting statistics about who learns French and who stays in the province long enough to perpetuate the language. It seems pretty evident that unless Quebecers boost their numbers, this distinct culture will only be studied by historians. Grescoe is an objective Canadian- bilingual and deft with prose. This book should be mandatory reading for any outsiders who venture north.

Well written, funny, useful:
The author has a nice turn of phrase, and a lovely sense of humor. But better yet, I found that it made my trip more enjoyable by putting a few things in context. I certainly wouldn't have recognized the poetry on my B & B door as coming from a beloved Quebecois poet without reading this book; or understood why TV sitcom writers enjoy enough prestige to have a little local shrine of newspaper articles dedicated to them.

Very Interesting Look at Quebec:
I really enjoyed reading this book and I feel I've learned quite a bit about Quebec. It's a very fascinating province that I hope to visit one of these days. The author weaves a very complex subject into a layman's quilt about the various facets of Quebecois society. The chapters on language and the societal ills since the Quite Revolution in the 60's are most interesting. The only thing that I didn't like about this book is the author's typical Canadian cheap shots at the United States. Why the author has to fall into this typical Canadian mindset is beyond me. I thought this book was about Quebec. But here the author implies throughout the book how Canada and Quebec are better than the United States just because THEY'RE NOT THE UNITED STATES. Talk about an inferiority complex. For example, the author is trying to defend Quebec zenophobia by pointing out America's supposed faults, by saying things like " The Americans, noted for their facade of equal opportunity,were in fact the most inegalitarian of people."....."the country has a bizarre myopia over it's apparently permanant class of blacks and Hispanics." Excuse me? But it's America's fault that the black and Hispanic underclass sit around collecting dole while simultaniously blaming the white man for everything? How about we send our underclasses up to Canada, Taras? Maybe you, since you're such a compassionate Canadian, can help them out and kiss their behind. Another gem from the author,"The United States, in contrast, seems to be engaged in a narcissistic dialogue, gazing at itself in a mirror as an increasingly disgusted world looks on." Say what? Again, this book is supposed to be about the author's journey through Quebec, not a Canadian's jealous perspective about the United States. And another whopper is where the author compares the crime rate of the entire province of Quebec with the city of Baltimore to supposedly show how low Quebec's crime rate is. LOL! Yeah, compare a predominantly black ghetto city with a predominantly white province. Nice try Taras. Overall I really enjoyed the book and I do recommend it for people curious to learn about Quebec. It's just unfortunate that the author had to stoop to typical America bashing in an attempt to make some points. Maybe Taras Grescoe should take a journey through the United States. He might learn something instead of rehashing the same old Canadian anti-American newsbites.

I really enjoyed reading this book!:
I got this book before my first trip to Quebec, what a great read. My boyfriend is from Montreal and he joked that I probably learned more and now know more about Quebec than he does b/c I kept saying "did you know this or do you know that?"... I loved the sarcasm of the author, it was written in a way that doesn't make you feel like you're reading a boring history book... this book falls somewhere between a history book and a tour guide book. I learned so many amazing things from this book -- even learned things that his family didn't even know about and they live there. I really felt like the things I read helped me appreciate the things I saw once I was there --it made things that much more special for me b/c I had a better understanding of the people and how things are the way they are. Thank you Taras Grescoe!!!!