Lost in North America: The Imaginary Canadian in the American Dream

Les Harding is the author of The Voyages of Lesser Men: Thumbnail
Sketches in Canadian Exploration and The Journeys of Remarkable Women:
Their Travels on the Canadian Frontier.

John Gray develops the notion that the real Canada is nowhere to be
found in the interconnected web of static, and declining, national
institutions, but instead exists somewhere in the collective imagination
of its citizens. He also laments that these imaginative Canadians are
the victims of a cruel, budget-driven cultural clear-cut. Now before
your eyes cloud over with the seriousness of these matters, it must be
pointed out that this book has been classified by learned librarians
under the subject headings of: 1. Canada—Humour; 2. National
characteristics, Canadian—Humour. Deservedly so. The book is funny and
entertaining as well as thought-provoking. Readers may not always agree
with Gray, but I am confident that most will find Lost in America a most
enjoyable read.

Gray reveals himself to be a master of the pithy quote, which should
please after-dinner speakers for years to come—for example, “From
the moment the first European set foot on North America to name parts of
it after European cities and royals, Canadians have been into virtual
reality in a big way. ‘The Global Village’ is nothing more than
Canadian culture writ large”; “Canadians resent littering, but will
not complain if you do. They can be belligerent, but will apologize when
they bump into you—sometimes even when you bump into them”; “To
Quebec, Canada is an Alberta politician in aviator glasses, and a queue
of elderly Ontarians in acrylic doubleknits stomping on the Quebec flag.
To English Canada, Quebec is a syrup farmer in a toque, a dead body in a
car trunk, and a gun-happy police officer, together with a personal
restaurant experience while motoring to the Maritimes one summer,
several years ago.”

John Gray, a Governor General’s Award winner, has written a novel,
screenplays, magazine articles, and stage musicals, including the
acclaimed Billy Bishop Goes to War.