Canada and Other Matters of Opinion

by Rex Murphy

A cornucopia of comment from Canada’s most opinionated man — a man seen, read, and listened to by millions of Canadians each week.

Canada’s most distinctive commentator presents his fearless and thought-provoking views on a head-spinning range of subjects, from Dr. Johnson’s greatness to Bono’s gratingness, from doubts about Obama to utter belief in Don Cherry, from Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s outstanding oeuvre to — well, Pamela Anderson.

The topics are as eclectic and wide ranging as the intelligence that put them together. The perspective is thoroughly Canadian, and so are many of the recurring topics and of our domestic politics and our military involvements abroad, of our national identity, of human rights and human decency. You’ll find assessments of the reputations of Paul Martin, Conrad Black, Adrienne Clarkson, and Tim Hortons; tough but affectionate views of Newfoundland — of course — but also from Rex Murphy’s constant travels across Canada.

But all the world is here, in all its glory and folly. The hard-hitting attacks on politicians, celebrities, those who would ban smoking, and anyone who uses the expression “global warming denial” will have you cheering or tearing your hair out, depending. You will be informed, infuriated perhaps, but always fascinated.

Genres: Nonfiction, Canada, Politics

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Rex Murphy was born and raised near St. John's, Newfoundland, where he graduated from Memorial University. In 1968, he went to Oxford University as a Rhodes Scholar. Afterwards, returning to Newfoundland, he soon established himself as a quick-witted and accomplished writer, broadcaster and teacher.

Rex Murphy's primary interest is in language and English literature, but he also has a strong link with politics. As well as host of CBC Radio's Cross Country Checkup, he contributes weekly TV essays on diverse topics to CBC TV's The National, and also writes book reviews, commentaries, and a weekly column for The Globe & Mail.

He is much in demand as a speaker. His oratory -- a volatile mix of insight, humour and biting political commentary, powered by an extraordinary vocabulary -- brings audiences to their feet at events from coast to coast.

Rex Murphy has won several national and provincial broadcasting awards and has been awarded honorary doctorates in letters by Memorial University, St. Thomas University, and Nipissing University.

Reviews

[Mike Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you've ever heard Rex Murphy speak, this collection of his newspaper columns and TV commentaries evokes his voice, in terms of rhythm and tone, very well. Aside from a few glowing book reviews, this collection is mostly rants about how stupid the world is - politicians, voters, celebrities, those who pay attention to celebrities, the media. No one is safe. Rex has a a wonderful way with words, but I found this book was best taken in small doses, a few essays at a time. The generally negative tone can be demoralizing at times.

[C · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it - it's a collection of articles from around 2004-2006 or so, so some of them are a bit dated, and some weren't really in my area of interest. However, the ones that were in my area of interest were great.

I like his bitter smack-upside-the-head common sense logic. The articles in the book may not all be ones that interest me, but I now know where to find his columns so I can read newer material.

[Pankaj · Rating 1 out of 5]

I do not necessarily subscribe to Mr. Murphy's political leanings but am in awe of his facility of thought and mastery over his language. For instance, learned the difference between "bathetic" and "pathetic"!

Mr. Murphy's writings under the chapter on War and Terror make for difficult reading. The "othering" allows us to treat anyone different from "us" to be discarded as less than human. In spite of no Weapons of Mass Destruction being found, and various lies perpetuated by certain powers to bomb and "shock and awe" entire countries, coining a new dismissive expression- "collateral damage" to discount the deaths of innocent civilians and children, it is the others who are the evil force while we are the "liberators" and "introducers of democracy". The British had mastered their art of colonizing the "heathens and pagans" centuries ago, treating human cargo as a product to profit from. The narratives continue, aided and abetted by respected journalists like Mr. Murphy. Afghanistan is now a case in point - where our allies have been unceremoniously left to save themselves after we decamped, letting hapless children drop dead from aircraft taking off!

For that reason alone, I would give this 4-star book a single-star rating.

[Annette · Rating 4 out of 5]

I only gave it 4 stars out of 5 because I'm reading it out of date and some of the articles you need to remind yourself what year it is from.
As a new read it would be fantastic. I love Rex Murphy.

[Paula Dembeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rex Murphy was a well-known figure in Canada who enjoyed a decade long media career. He was a man who loved language, literature and politics, often appearing as a regular commentator on radio, television and in print.
There is a large number of short columns in this volume focused on a broad range of topics, voicing his opinion on everything from Boswell's biography of Samuel Johnson to acts of terrorism and the death of a Pope. His narratives are distinctive, always marked by his dexterity with words, his deadpan polysyllabic prose, his razor-sharp wit and his cocky delivery. He never expected his readers to agree with him, but instead focused on getting his readers to re-examine their perspective on an issue and thoroughly think it through.
He always presented his arguments in a well-organized, thought provoking and logical way, so readers no matter what their view, were always better informed after reading his work. Despite the serious subject matter he addressed here, he also included some genuine "laugh out loud" moments in this collection, including his reference to YouTube videos that "outpace even Jessica Alba's beach footwear as a draw" or referring to the speaking voice of G.W. Bush as a "disparate safari to link a cowering subject to its about-to-be mauled predicate" or calling Joey Smallwood "the Pharaoh of the North Atlantic".
Readers need to be prepared for the strong rhetoric in this collection, as Rex ventilates as only Rex can, often at various times pompous and contrarian, sarcastic and clever. One will learn much about the English language by reading his commentaries - his vocabulary challenged almost everyone. His mastery of language allowed him to voice the words of an intellectual, while at the same time being down to earth. He was a man who never avoided saying what he thought, always ready to defend is point of view.
I often listened to him and something I miss in this book is the sound of his voice. He had a distinctive professorial delivery and a particular cadence to his staccato speech, which was charming.
This is a book best read in small doses as going through almost 350 pages of commentary can be a bit numbing in large doses. The format encourages such an approach as the short chapters which cover discreet topics makes it easy for readers to pick it up and put down, interspersing it with their other reading.
Kudos must be given for the cover design with the caricature portrait of the author staring out at the reader. It is brilliant and suits this man’s character perfectly!
He died in 2024 several years after this volume was published and Canada lost one of its more colorful wordsmiths.

[Dan Glover · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a compendium of Rex's opinion pieces from radio, newspaper and TV. When Rex is good, he is eloquently good, like when he is critiquing the vacuousness of our celebrity culture or the oxymoronic human rights commissions in Canada. But when he is bad, like when he is gushing about the public speaking skills of Barack Obama or when he is hanging all the Liberals hopes on Michael Ignatiff (boy, did he miss call that one), at least he is still eloquent. Rex is an old school liberal, which is to say he is more conservative than most Democrats or even many Republicans. He is great on his critique of the so called "arts", but then mysteriously inconsistent when he criticizes the Conservative government for wanting to cut or eliminate tax-payer funding to "the arts" in Canada when they produce the unmitigated crap (in many cases, near pornographic) they do. But, by and large, Rex is a far better guide through the moral and political morass of modern politics and culture than the majority of pundits out there and he is far more down to earth and "everyman" and balanced than most editorial or opinion piece writers. I'd give this 3.5 stars if I could. Some of the pieces deserve a 5, some a 2. But there are more chapters worthy of a 4 than there are that are worthy of a 1 or 2.

[Ubalstecha · Rating 3 out of 5]

There is a word for Rex Murphy. Curmudgeon. Although he loves to point out that the emperor is not wearing any clothes, his age means that he is not the wide eyes boy, no matter how much he would like to pretend. You could also use the word smart to describe Murphy. His vocabulary alone would grant him entrance into the halls of academe. So when he turns a scathing eye on the world around him, he does not mince words in any way, shape or form.

This book is a collections of his collumns and opinion pieces from the National and the Globe and Mail and they reveal how much of a curmudgeon he is. Murphy heaps scorn on those around him that he feels are shallow and vapid. His targets range from politicians to the Hollywood elite, but his biggest scorn is reserved for those who dare criticize or slander his native Newfoundland.

While this collection is good, it begins to wear on you after awhile. Because like the curmudgeon he is, Murphy has very little nice to say and three hundred plus pages of vitriol and venom can give you indegestion. This one is good in short bursts only.

[spike marlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked much of this book, but then again I like Rex Murphy's rants on CBC The National. He always has a beautiful loquacious command of the English language. Some of the material is quite dated, and if you weren't paying attention when the events happened you might not understand what he was talking about. However, since I was born well before what Rex was writing about and I follow Canadian politics quite closely, I was able to remember most of the references that he made. The best quote of the book, on page 129, is: "The idea has been about for some time now that writers, in particular, have some special authority, which endows them with a finer moral insight then the general run of people." This speaks volumes about how seriously Rex takes himself, and that we should not assume that writers are the only ones with insight. I wonder why writers are always interviewed?

[Kati · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will admit that, as a child forced to listen to Rex Murphy's Cross Country Checkup on CBC radio during long family road trips, my only opinion of him was that he had a weird voice. But the man is smart, has an opinion, and can get his point across (in an often humorous manner). My brother bought this book and it is currently residing on my bathroom counter, where I have started to puruse it. Articles/chapters vary from Celebrity (e.g., the utter pretentiousness of Bono) to Human Rights.

[Carol Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Rex's political commentary in this book is outdated now by a couple of years, an election, and the death of Jack Layton, it's still kind of interesting to read. His sardonic humour can sometimes make you laugh out loud and at other times just be annoying, but he does have a way with words. And at least he comes from Newfoundland, not Ontario!

[Iris · Rating 3 out of 5]

update 08-10-13 -- my fave was his keith richards piece, "out of his tree." u can find it here -- http://tinyurl.com/ktk4djv

in "the bush paradox," he suggests that ppl like michael moore latch onto bush-criticism in order to make themselves look larger and more important. alas, rex murphy is only interesting when he critiques celebrities.

[Ronald Kelland · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a collection of opinion pieces and reviews by the man who is arguably Newfoundland's and Canada's leading pundit, this book is pretty much what one would expect. Rex demonstrates both his well-informed contrariness and his incredible grasp of the language and phrasing. A great book for lovers of politics and the arts. Plus we are related, so Go Rex!

[Ben Sisson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed a bunch of these commentaries especially the ones about free speech, human rights tribunals and Islam. Thats the nice thing about these sort of collection of essays is you can skim over the ones that don't interest you and (since many of the essays are now over a decade old) the many outdated ones.

[G · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found his writings on "Celebrity" then "Cartoon Crisis" and "The Pleasures of Smoking" as most worthy of being read. He overuses the dash--an anoying habit since most of what's contained in those spaces is another idea altogether--yet I still think the words flow well enough.

[Jonathan Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Canadiana prose though slightly outdated, is a valuable contribution to the fallacies used to prop up celebrity or progressives "tolerant" agenda. Rex Murphy's great tools are his command of the English language and ability to shame the fool.

[Kristine Morris · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book in 2009 and that's when I should have read it. Whether you agree with Rex Murphy's opinions or not, he does get you to look at current events from a different perspective. I do delight in his vicious comments on celebrities (in this case Bono, Madonna and Britney Spears).

[Sean Cummings · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rex is an absolute 100% national treasure.

[Bruno de Maremma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always love to read Mr. Murphy's prose whether or not I agree with his point of view.

[Teeswater Dot-Ca · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realize most read Rex Murphy for his fantabulous grasp of the English language. Me too, but the material has dated fast. I think I will stick with his commentaries on CBC.

[Rohit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book...a must read

[Stanley Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of great books quoted.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rex Murphy is a talented ranter. A bit cantankerous, but always amusing. He has made Canada and Canadian culture a little less inscrutable for this new resident.