Montreal Magic: The Ultimate Guide to Canada's Most Exciting City!

Carolyn Bett was President, CEBET Bibliographies.

Montreal Magic is immediately appealing because of its lively opening style, which is at its best again in the section on restaurants but tends to lose vitality over churches, theatres, and museums. Nevertheless, bus and metro directions to theatres and museums are bonus information. The subsections stand as quite separate units; but coherency is not a top priority in a reference book. Two editorial idiosyncrasies distract from the flow of the paragraphs. The first is improper division of words at the end of a line (e.g., leng/ths in the first paragraph). The second is the use of Eaton to refer to Eaton’s, the department store.

Because the audience has not been clearly defined, certain information is scant. The tourist might enjoy maps of walking tours. The armchair traveller could wish a fuller history and description of the monuments. Admittedly, the information on the various ethnic communities drops into generalities because of its brevity. Very little help has been given with inexpensive accommodation. However, the highlight of Montreal, its fine restaurants, has been amply portrayed.

The Big List is amazing in its diversity. Sports are well represented in this index, but there is also a section on Bankruptcy Service. Unfortunately, “see also” references are not clearly understood. “Angling — see also — Fishing” would have been better as a “see” reference. The same listing should not appear under both headings; however, too much information is better than too little. The brief notes in the Big List are most useful and occasionally humorous.

Scores of addresses and telephone numbers lead the inquirer to fuller sources of specific information on all aspects of Montreal life. Unfortunately, telephone numbers, particularly, tend to change rapidly, giving the book a limited life span. One can only hope that this information is in a manageable format that admits of continuous updating. If used in conjunction with other reference sources, however, Montreal Magic could provide quick subject access to numerous organizations and services for several years.