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CANADIANS have never needed laughter more. The economy is closing in like a circling shark; our political choices are narrowing quickly to Eenie, Meenie, Mynie, and what's - her - name; and the humourless forces of Political Correctness stalk the land like cultural storm troopers.
Enter Canada's writing community, responding to the challenge with book after book of the anti - reality ammo we desperately need to fight back, to learn to laugh again. Two of the most recent efforts also come with two of the highest profiles.
John Levesque, a columnist for the Hamilton Spectator, recently won the Stephen Leacock Medal for humour writing with his collection of columns, Waiting for Aquarius. In winning the prestigious award, Levesque beat out Margaret Atwood, Marni Jackson, and Joey Slinger. Inevitably, such an honour raises the stakes in evaluating his writing and, at the end, I was left wondering what the heck the Leacock judges were thinking.
Don't get me wrong. Levesque is a good writer, and his musings are often amusing. As for the man himself, I really got to like him. At the end of the book, he closes with an interminable "random catalogue" of "Happiness Is" items. Anyone who...