The Book

Will Ferguson is a fantastic storyteller. I thought Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw was a good fit with Canada 150 and my aim to get outside more often and in more parts of Canada. I was right on both counts.

This book won the well-deserved Leacock Medal for Humour. I was in stitches reading about Ferguson’s misadventures across Canada, and about his son’s poopy diapers. Serisouly, will poop jokes ever stop being funny? Beyond comedy, there is a lot of nuance to what initially seems to be a lighthearted travel memoir, and I have written this review to explore some of those things.

My Review of Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw

The rating system I use captures some of the things I look for in a travel and adventure book. I like books that inspire me to be more adventurous, and that make me long to visit new places. I want the books I read to paint a picture of a place, and have a bit of swagger to the writing.

ADVENTURE: 7/10

I love how Ferguson captured the idea of the great Canadian road trip. One of the things I love about this country is how easy it is to just get in the car and drive somewhere new. Every stop, every diner, every oddball tourist attraction brings to the surface new information that contributes to the broader definition of Canada. This book shines in its ability to capture those things.

Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw didn’t really have any oh my god, this is how I die, or oh shit we’re at a quarter tank and the next town is 300 kilometers away types of moments. The experiences were a bit too bubble wrapped for my taste. Can you really say you’ve searched for Canada without talking about being stranded in the middle of a frozen lake beside a snowmobile that won’t start?

Canada is one of the least densely populated countries in the world (check out a cool map here). When pitted against Russia, which let’s not forget is home to Siberia, Canada has less than half the population density. You can find yourself in a remote situation without trying too hard, and I think that this sense of vastness and loneliness is an important part of the search for Canada.

wanderlust: 7/10

This book lights up the imagination with the strange and fascinating truth of some of the lesser known places in Canada. The way his wife is drawn to Canada’s strange large monuments (world’s largest hockey stick, giant Ukrainian Easter egg, etc.), his barrage of questions for the “king” of Madawaska, and his reluctant dive into the underground cultural rebellion in Victoria do a fantastic job of giving an insider look at the real Canada.

My primary criticism is that he skips the territories altogether, save for a cameo appearance by Fort Smith, Northwest Territories. The Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut make up almost exactly 50% of Canada by land mass. While small in population, these places definitely have an important place in any search for Canada.

With Ferguson’s ability to draw out the history of a place, and interpret what it says about the present, it is a shame he didn’t get to places like the Chilkoot Trail, the Con Mine, or the Northwest Passages. He definitely gets credit for paying homage to Samuel Hearne (my favourite moment in the book), but it ends up reading as more of an aside in the grand scheme of things.

SCENERY: 8/10

The foggy scenery along the Saguenay. The pungent industriousness of Thunder Bay. The wooded defiance of Madawaska. Ferguson’s writing paints a clear picture of the places he explores.

Having spent most of my time in Canada in the western provinces, the massive eastern parts of Canada still seem foreign to me. Ferguson’s writing made the places he visited feel more familiar, more a part of my own Canadian experience. As I was reading Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw, it was as though I was a passenger in Ferguson’s car. In my imagination, I lazily gazed out the window, catching glimpses of Canada along the way.

I hate to harp on about it, but the arctic and subarctic parts of Canada were lacking. Being surrounded by polar bears in the middle of the tundra near Churchill almost satiated me, but when I finished reading this book I was craving more imagery from the higher latitudes. Great White North and all that.

Style: 9/10

I have heard Will Ferguson referred to as Canada’s Bill Bryson, but I don’t think that gives him enough credit. His clever style and ability to string together seemingly unrelated experiences, using them to tell a larger tale, set him apart as a uniquely gifted storyteller. Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw is a great demonstration of this skill set.

Because of its straight up massive land mass, Canada is a hard place to capture. In a way, I agree with Ferguson when he says that Canada is just one big collection of outposts. When framed in this way, I wonder if it is even possible to ever really know this country.

The subtitle used for this book, “Travels in Search of Canada,” perfectly summarizes this conundrum. A lifetime is not enough to discover everything that makes up Canada.  Maybe, then, my complaints that the author didn’t get to the territories are unfair. Perhaps a part of the story of Canada is that one person just can’t go everywhere.

OVERALL: 8/10

The writing in Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw is so good. I could feel my own ability to spin a yarn slowly improving as I turned the pages, marveling at Ferguson’s ability to draw out an unexpected learning from an experience.

My Recommendation

I definitely recommend you give this one a read, and to help you do so, I will be giving away my copy of Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw. To enter the giveaway, head over to the Latitude Legends Facebook page. Like the page, and share the post that links to this book review. Contest ends on Sunday, May 28, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. Mountain Standard Time.

Do you have any travel and adventure must-reads? Books that light up your imagination and inspire you to get out of your comfort zone? Let me know in the comments!