The Canadian Michael Moore?

Posted Sep 12, 2006 by Kevin Walker

Updated Sep 12, 2006 at 09:54 AM

Linda McQuaig, a Canadian journalist who writes a weekly political column for The Toronto Star, has released a blistering attack on the Bush Adminstration with “It’s the Crude, Dude: Greed, Gas, War and The American Way.”  Doubting the argument that President Bush puts forward that the United States is trying to bring democracy to the Middle East with the invasion of Iraq, McQuaig argues that what the Bush Adminstration wants is control of the world’s largest oil fields - particularly now that oil supplies are dwindling in other locales.

This looks like one those books that will preach to the choir, since probably only similiarly-minded people will pick it up.

In another controversial topic - well, controversial for literary scholars - Ron Rosenbaum takes a look at the centuries-old battle over William Shakespeare in “The Shakespeare Wars.”  Much as he did with “Explaining Hitler,” Rosenbaum - a New York Observer columnist - takes a fresh approach to the examination of who Shakespeare was and what was his inspiration for what most consider the greatest creative output ever produced. I know, I know. This will only appeal to Shakespeare nuts and scholars and curious students. Still, this is an excellent book that deserves your attention even if you are just casually interested in The Bard.

Tales of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round table are too numerous to count. But interestingly, few take a look at the person who wrote those stories - Sir Thomas Malory. In “Malory: The Knight Who Became King Arthur’s Chronicler,” author Christina Hardyment examines the life of Malory. It’s definitely interesting. Most scholars have believed that he was a criminal - charged with rape, ambush and attacking abbys - and spent most of his life in prison. That, however, is not the case, Hardyment argues, citing official records that indicate Malory never was convicted of anything and may have been the victim of a frame up by ememies during the turbulent years of the War of the Roses.