A.J.M. Smith: An Annotated Bibliography by Michael E. Darling, and: Sinclair Ross: A Reader's Guide by Ken Mitchell (review)

HUMANITIES 455 seem to be a combination of friend and foe. I don't mean that there aren't some early friends or later proteges (from those very productive creative writing courses) who retain his unswerving loyalty or a few unadulterated villains (Hugh Eayrs, for example), but usually the people he forgives still retain the offence and his heroes (even Garnett Sedgewick) are not often unspotted; indeed, his dramatis personae display their bright and dark sides with fascinating mutability (Pierre Berton begins darkly, but brightens later, Roy Daniells does the opposite; even Sir Charles G.D. Roberts reveals an unexpected moment of kindly glory). Birney's title characterizes the work somewhat modestly - as 'remarks,' not as literary history, or as literary criticism, or as autobiography. But 'remarks' fits the sort of heterogeneous acuity of observation and confident quickness of judgment that give this book its special flavour. I look forward to Book II and hope that the final product is at least a triple-decker. (MILTON WILSON) Michael E. Darling. A.T.M. Smith: An Annotated Bibliography Vehicule Press. 228 Ken Mitchell. Sinclair Ross: A Reader's Guide Coteau Books (Thunder Creek Publishing Co-operative). 116, illus. Two contributions to Canadian literary studies worthy of brief notice. Now that The Annotated BibliographyofCanada's Major Authors has begun to appear from ECW Press, the publication of an independent bibliography devoted to A.J.M. Smith may come as a surprise. But this careful compilation offers considerably more detail. Individual books are given a more formal bibliographical description; the listings of criticism and book reviews claim to be more complete; and fuller explanatory notes are offered, including useful information about the prepublication history of Smith's books. Darling's bibliography is reproduced from typescript, but it is neatly presented and easy to read. Those concerned with the poetry and criticism of Smith and the writers associated with him will find the book an invaluable aid. Ken Mitchell's study ofSinclair Ross is offered as a general introduction to the author's work. Individual chapters are devoted to the short stories, As for Me and My House, The Well and Whir ofGold (treated together), and Sawbones Memorial. The book is primarily thematic in approach, and far too much space is devoted to plot-narration. It is, indeed, symptomatic of the advances made in Canadian literary criticism over the last few years that this book now reads as disappointingly old-fashioned. We are no longer prepared to tolerate a critic who can describe Judith's death in childbirth in As for Me and My House as a 'Christ-like martyTdom' (p 49). 456 LETTERS IN CANADA 1981 Perhaps the book's greatest value lies in its reprinting of two Ross short stories that are not easily obtainable: 'No Other Way,' his first published story, and 'Spike,' which has hitherto appeared only in a French translation. But it is typical of the oddity of the book that this latter story, of particular interest to Ross admirers, is never even mentioned (let alone discussed) in Mitchell's text. (w.). KEITH) Robertson Davies. The Well-Tempered Critic: One Man's View of Theatre and Letters in Canada. Edited by Judith Skelton Grant McClelland & Stewart. 285. $18.95 Do we really need another collection of miscellaneous pieces by Robertson Davies? Judith Skelton Grant does her best to defend her affirmative answer in the introduction to The Well-Tempered Critic:One Man's View of Theatre and Letters in Canada, despite what might seem a damaging admission: that the author himself 'never thought of making a collection such as this, because he felt that the pieces were too much the ephemeral products of their time.' Two main points constitute the underpinnings of her defence: the writing itself is 'many-splendoured,' filled with 'quotable nuggets and pithy ruminations that will long stimulate readers and students of Canadian drama and literature'; and 'the very reflection of earlier attitudes is the stuff of literary history,' particularly the 'grapplings ' ofan author like Davies with his culture, which 'produced insights of continuing relevance.' There is more than some slight justice to the rationale, given our current penchant for attributing the prevailing interest in Canadian...