One thing I noticed in my move from “friendly Manitoba” to “beautiful British Columbia” was the ability of BC residents to act like they live in a whole different country than the rest of Canada.
Nowhere else have I met people who have travelled less outside their province or complained about their province while still managing to have such a fierce defense of all things related to it. Cartoonist Adrian Raeside has made his living on this attitude.
The Best of Adrian Raeside is a collection of comics poking fun at a wide array of BC issues. From our less-than-cheap housing prices to our less-than-booming forestry business, not to mention our sometimes-less-than-functional provincial government, all issues are tackled with equal amounts of ridicule and love.
However, it’s a book of comics. It took me less than half an hour to get through the whole thing. It was good for a chuckle or two, but, like reading the morning funnies, I rarely found myself laughing out loud. Raeside is talented, and if you love his comics you’ll love the book; otherwise, you might want to give this one a pass.
Still, this book would be perfect for a few things:
1. Coffee-table book for showing out-of-town relatives how crazy we are.
2. Gift to departing international students that they will pretend to understand.
3. Book to place beside your Calvin and Hobbes collection in order to look more intellectual.
4. Gift for that eccentric uncle who’s always complaining about politics.
5. Something to bring up around your opinionated teacher for brown-nosing points.