I really enjoyed this book. Intelligent, coherent, stylish, articulate, passionate, extremely well paced... just like a hockey game. I just can't believe a hockey player can skate so good on a keyboard! The only thing missing is the stats of his entire hockey career. I think it should have been added somewhere, maybe on the back cover, I don't know. Maybe in the next print? (Cause there will be several ones, I'm sure). Again, fabulous book! Go Pierre Go! Na-na-na-hey-hey-goodbye!

This rocks!!!! Pierre Turgeon is my idol!! He is so great---an extremely talented hockey player and an author too!! This book had a well-developed plot, and once i started reading it , I couldn't put it down!!! Go Pierre go!!!

I admit that the most interesting thing I found about this book was the premise; a man, frustrated with his humdrum identity, assumes that of Mark Frechette. Frechette, as the novel reminds us, was the young male actor who starred in Antonioni's ZABRISKIE POINT; he became somewhat of a revolutionary, or at the very least a criminal, after the making of the film, and was involved in bank holdups (sorry, don't recall how many). He defended his actions in radical terms. He was arrested and sent to prison, where he tried to get several social programs going to better the life of inmates; he was a little more outspoken than was safe for him, and was eventually found murdered in a weight room. All this is true, and a rather fascinating bit of recent history, particularly in that the making of the film probably had a lot to do with Frechette's choices in later life -- life imitating art and all that. It's even more interesting that someone should then, years later, write a novel that has its main character attempting to hide under Frechette's name. The swapping-of-identity theme -- man seeking freedom from his former self, while pursued by his family -- is also, of course, familiar to Antonioni fans, as a device exploited very effectively in THE PASSENGER. It's been a long time since I read this book; at the time, I recall being VERY engaged by the first half, then thinking it was losing focus, turning into more of a detective thriller than a meditation on identity. Alas, now that I'm hungry to reexplore it, it's out of print. I *think* other people would find it interesting, tho'... Y'gotta admit, the premise is quite something...

I would reccommend this book to any hockey fan. I think that Pierre Turgeon is one of the most underrated players in the NHL. Every year he is among the scoring leaders in the league. The media always make negative comments about him saying that he is a soft player, he has no heart or intensity and chokes in the playoffs. This book helps to contradict those ideas by showing that he is a determined and competitive player focused on winning, even if he is not the most phsyical player in the game. This is a story about a player who has faced criticism throughout his career, much of it undeserved, and has went on to have a successful career.

Hmmmm, well, a comme-çi-comme-ça kind of book. A lot of good stuff here, but also a lot of stuff missing. Yes, the book was done by a committee, which doesn't help. But it's surprisingly good for a book done by committee, but that doesn't mean it's a surprisingly good book, because, unfortunately, it isn't. It's an OK book, which is too bad, since it would be really nice to have a Canadian history book which not only was easy to read, but provided good history. It's drawbacks? It's biggest drawback — remember, this is supposed to be a history book — is it's lack of maps. The maps provided are few and far between, and even those provided are small and pathetic. All good history books need maps. From Francis Parkman to Fred Anderson (Crucible of War), they all have plenty of good, detailed maps. Secondly, for a book billed as "A book for every Canadian home", it is way over-priced. Sixty bucks?! Give me a break. Thirdly, from an editorial point of view, there are many holes. Just to mention one, the book mentions the corruption of the English officials in the early nineteenth century which basically, led to the impetus for confederation (although the example provided by the U.S. is given way too short shrift), and then glosses over the corruption that was running rampant among the ‘fathers' of Canadian confederation. The sad reality is that the corrupt English officials were replaced by corrupt Canadian politicians, and this tradition has continued down to this day. But it's probably expecting too much from a book produced by the CBC to highlight this fact. [what happened to louis riel?]

It's good points? Fairly good organization of events, although there is some disconcerting jumping around from time to time. As a summary, it's a decent summary for the time period covered (basically, the three hundred years up to and including confederation). Good side-bars throughout the book as well, and good and plentiful pictures/illustrations.

In the end, I guess the book gets three out of five stars. But if the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corp.) is prepared to put it's money where it's mouth is, and provide a real book for ALL Canadian homes, they've got to do two things. First, produce a paperback edition that sells for $...(Canadian $, please, as Canadians only get paid in Canadian dollars) or less. Secondly, the number and size of the maps has to be quadrupled. Without better maps, all you really have is a coffee-table book. If you want a real history book, add bigger, better, and more maps. There's a challenge for, you, CBC!