By Stuart Nulman
After the craziness we Anglophones have experienced in Quebec throughout 2012 (especially the student tuition fee hike protests, ongoing revelations of rampant corruption at the Charbonneau Commission hearings and the election of another PQ government and that nasty “pasta” business) — not to mention the everyday stresses and headaches that make up our technologically savvy society — it’s important to have someone who could take up the mantle and be the voice of rationality for us angst-ridden people.
Josh Freed is that voice.
Every Saturday, plenty of loyal readers turn to Freed’s page 2 column in the Gazette to get his unique perspective of what it’s like to live in our world today, especially if you’re an Anglophone or Allophone in Quebec. The result is not only thought-provoking, but it’s also (thankfully) laugh-inducing.
A veteran journalist and filmmaker, Freed has also penned seven books, including four collections of his previous columns. The newly-released “He Who Laughs, Lasts” is his first book in 12 years and after reading it, I can proudly say that it was certainly worth the wait.
This book is a collection of his best Gazette columns that were published over the past 12 years (with a little bit of polishing and updating), which gives his minions of fans (and new converts) a selection of current and relevant topics that are given the Josh Freed treatment. This ranges from living in a cold Canada, the latest technological innovations, urban living and life in the early 21st century.
And of course, there’s plenty of entries about that frustrating, complex concept of what it’s like to be a contemporary citizen of Quebec (the land of the “neverendum referendum”, to quote a Freedism). This is exemplified by the English translation of his landmark column for L’Actualite magazine “Bonjour! Mon nom est Josh”, which became the most widely read single piece ever on the magazine’s website. It’s basically a humble introduction to the Francophone population by an Anglophone who speaks French with a pre-Bill 101 accent (thanks to his French teacher Mrs. Schwartz at Sir Winston Churchill High School), who professes his love for his native city of Montreal and the ambition he has set for his children, which is to remain in Quebec and “master the French language well enough to achieve the impossible anglo dream – to get a job as a Quebec civil servant.”
Other highlights in the book include his lament of the lack of genuine eccentric characters in Montreal in the wake of the death of the Great Antonio; the transcontinental odyssey of his luggage during an Air Canada flight to Italy; in time for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, his suggestions for some more real-life Olympic events such as “The Competitive Car Dig-Out” and “The 3,000-Metre Supermarket Sprint”; a new perspective of last summer’s anti-tuition fee hike protests, as seen through the eyes of a correspondent from “Al Jesteera”; and just in time for Christmas, a letter from Santa Claus himself, in which he outlines the dilemmas he is facing being jolly St. Nick in the early 21st century, in which he has to deal with a reindeer rights group, a melting North Pole polar ice cap, personal obesity issues, and several of his flying reindeer who are being stopped for drunken sleighing or getting their flying permits suspended for imbibing too much egg nog.
By combining clear, rational thought, creative suggestions and plenty of glib humour, Freed has made “He Who Laughs, Lasts” such an enjoyable book to read and a perfect remedy for everything that ails us about living in today’s society in general, and Quebec in particular. As he continues to churn out these journalistic gems that we look forward to reading and savouring regularly, Josh Freed has become one of those writers who has reached that rare status of becoming a much loved and highly regarded (not to mention well deserved) national institution. He maybe a lovable curmudgeon with a pen, but he’s OUR lovable curmudgeon with a pen.
This review was originally published in the December 22, 2012 edition of The West End Times.
