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HUMANITIES 245 best sources readily available to scholars for studying (primarily women's) periodical publications and markets in the early years of the twentieth century. For readers not familiar with Montgomery's style and range, At the Altar gives a very limited sample of her abilities. And there is a complaint against Wilmshurst's choice of groupings that must be made: it is very hard to study the stories, to gain insights into Montgomery's changes and choices, because the stories have not appeared in the order in which they were published nor are they grouped by the periodicals in which they appeared. Perhaps as McClelland and Stewart would wish, most readers will need to wait for the full series to appear before they can get any real sense, say, of the quality and preoccupations we find in the stories published before and after any special event or (other) publication in Montgomery's life. It is to be hoped that the last volume of these republished stories will have a cross-referenced index and a list, in chronological order, of all the publications. In the meantime, Montgomery readers, those interested in Canadiana, short story fans, and any general readers who prize human comedy and happy endings owe Rea Wilmshurst thanks for making available yet more of L.M. Montgomery's professional writing. (ELIZABETH R. EPPERLY) John Orange. Farley Mowat: Writing the Squib ECW Press 1993. 126. $14.95 Like many Canadians my age, I grew up on a fairly steady diet of Farley Mowat's books. Decades later I still have fond (if vague) memories of Never Cry Wolf, Lost in the Barrens, The Boat Who Wouldn't Float, and The Dog Who Wouldn't Be. When I became an adult and started reading 'serious' literature (which, at university, meant 'English' literature), I stopped reading Mowat. For much of my early adult life, Farley Mowat seemed just a quaint and rather embarrassing'character' on the fringe of the Canadian literary landscape. In recent years, however, I have dramatically reversed this attitude. Partly this has had to do with discovering my vocation as a professor of Canadian literature. Partly it has had to do with my political opinions (Mowat and I share many left nationalist views). Most important, it has had to do with a deep respect I have gained for Mowat's achievement as a writer. Like his contemporary Pierre Berton (a writer whose currency has suffered similar ups and downs in my mind), Mowat is a writer who has got the job done, who has established a distinctive voice for himself and has produced a very substantial body of work (over twenty-five books). That he has shown courage and integrity in his life as well as his art only adds to the reasons to treat his work seriously. 246 LEITERS IN CANADA 1994 John Orange's Farley Mowat: Writing the Squib offers a solid introduction to the life and work of this important Canadian. Like the other biographies in ECW's Canadian Biography Series, Writing the Squib gives a concise (126 pages) overview of its subject's life, with an eye to establishing some of the biographical sources of the writing. There is a useful chronology at the end, as well as an extensive 'Works Consulted.' As in the other ECW biographies, the critical commentary - on both life and work - is informative but modest. Orange succeeds very well as a biographer. He retells events in a readable style, clear and direct, with nicely placed comic anecdotes - a style that is perhaps an effect of reading so many of Mowat's own narratives. Some of the more affecting passages are quotations or paraphrases from Mowat's own extensive autobiographical writings. Orange does a clear job of tracing the 'romantic roots underlying Mowat's ideology' - roots that are to be found in Mowat's childhood love of nature, his profound experiences in the Canadian Army in the Second World Wat, and his close relationship with his father. I was surprised and touched by another formative element in Mowat's make-up: the effect of his small size and youthful appearance (something I anguished over myself until my twenties ). Mowat's...

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