Good Gothe! The Enthusiasms of an Airwave Connoisseur

B.J. Busch is Associate Librarian (Access and Information Services) at
the University of Alberta.

Gothe, prize-winning host of cbc-fm’s “Disc Drive,” has compiled a
collection of anecdotes, stories, and essays on his favorite themes:
food, drink, cats, and music. With such titles as “The Eiswein
Cometh,” “Metamorphosis on a Theme of Tuna,” and “The Alarming
Rise in Pit Cats,” many of these tales have appeared in slightly
different forms in magazines. The articles can be instructive or
entertaining—often both. In “Grapey, Dusty, Flinty,” for example,
we learn that the term “dusty” when applied to wine refers to the
impression of leaving dust particles of flavor on the tongue, and that
it’s a good word to use when you get to order the wine but someone
else is paying. Or you can use it at home when you’re cleaning the
vacuum-cleaner bag and the cat pounces on it. Gothe’s description of
cats is pure delight: they don’t bark at the mailman or roam the
streets in packs looking for a fight outside the pool hall. No, they
tiptoe in on little fog feet, checking out the left-over surprise du
chef, and then settling down to a ritual bath on top of the black slacks
that just came back from the cleaners. Some of this material doubtless
comes off better over the air than in print, as delivery, timing,
intonation, and pauses could be quite important. Still, this is a
delightful and charming collection.