More on Walmart

I dashed off yesterday’s post in haste and want to add a few thoughts. I’m not in favour of an economic model in which cheap prices depress wages (and working conditions), which require cheap prices, reinforcing the cycle. But what I am heartened by is that a subject which only the Canadian publishers, as yet, have been brave enough to fly–dissociative identity disorder and child exploitation, not far-flung, but of the homegrown variety–has been taken up and embraced by ordinary people in ordinary places. And here and now, Walmart is ordinary and ubiquitous. That Walmart featured Web of Angels, that people have been buying it, pushing it back onto the Globe bestseller list, with no ads, no hype, not even a prize (yet!), is heart-warming. It gives me hope in all sorts of ways. People can be startlingly idiotic–and people can be strikingly intelligent. And just think of it. Of all places, Walmart demonstrates that by featuring Web of Angels. Doesn’t that give you hope?

Swallows peeking out of nests, old water processing plant, Toronto beach (click to enlarge)

 

Filed under: CanLit, Interesting, Literary Tagged: dissociative identity disorder