What's So Funny About Alberta?

Lynne Perras teaches communication arts at the University of Calgary.

Business speaker and author Michael Kerr’s hilarious study of
Canada’s richest—and sometimes most hated—province takes the form
of a travel diary as the author and his wife drive through the province.
They visit popular tourist attractions (including the world’s largest
softball, the world’s largest Easter egg, the world’s largest
perogy, and a famous gopher museum), take pictures of the more
fascinating sights, and comment on Alberta’s history, politics,
culture, weather, local rivalries and customs, and sports.

The reader is enticed by chapter titles like “When It’s Winter in
July, How Could You Not Laugh?,” “The Mother of All Malls,” “Way
Downtown in Cowtown,” and “A Humorist’s Guide to Alberta
Politicians.” Interspersed throughout the book are isolated facts,
curious lists, and Alberta-related jokes.

Kerr’s dry wit and clear-eyed perceptions effectively capture
Alberta’s many contradictions. Beneath the satire, his affection for
the province and its citizens shines through.