Saint John Curiosities: Stories and Histories from David Goss.

Randall White is the author of Voice of Region: On the Long Journey to
Senate Reform in Canada, Too Good to Be True: Toronto in the 1920s, and
Global Spin: Probing the Globalization Debate.

Every Canadian community of any size should have a David Goss. Alas, they don’t, and I hope citizens who have grown up in Canada’s oldest incorporated city realize what a unique cultural asset David is. This latest collection of stories about Saint John’s past is arranged in three sections, reflecting the old city’s convoluted geography, located as it is around the several estuaries of the river which shares its name. Fortunately for non-residents who have yet to figure out which peninsula or waterway they’re looking at, the author provides brief descriptions but alas no map. The first section of the book, “East of the River,” contains stories of varying length situated on the east side of the harbour in what is now central Saint John, the oldest section and the one devastated by fire in 1877. The second section, “Along the River,” refers to the newer communities that continue to expand along both the St. John and Kennebacasis rivers. The third section, “West of the River,” looks at the area west of the harbour, which, until the toll bridge was completed in 1968, was very much a world apart.

All of the stories are brief, rarely longer than a page and some even shorter. Aside from grouping them into one of the three parts of the Greater Saint John area, they are not arranged in any order (which I found kept my interest). Goss’s style is clear, almost chatty without overdoing it. Residents in one of the three areas will relate more to their section, but even for non-residents the subject matter is so varied and often fascinating that they will be hooked as I was. It’s a collection to be sampled at one’s leisure. The only drawback is its lack of an index.