A Quarterly of Criticism and Review i^^^^^^^^fcEjfc $15

Books in Reviewpoem or an entire genre as in "Visitation"where an alien visit serves to satisfy primarilythe human desire to escape their surroundings.Henighan, not surprisingly,shows a liking of ritual and myth in hispoetry. While at times the expression ofthis liking becomes formulaic, in someinstances it adds to the richness of thispoet's vision.The poems in Allan Safarik's On the Wayto Ethiopia have a restless quality to them.On the whole, Safarik's poems work bestwhen he uses a short line to present apointillistic portrait of things or situations.From Post-age to New AgeBarbara GowdyMister Sandman. Somerville House $24.95/313.95Ann-Marie MacDonaldFall on Your Knees. Knopf Canada $28.95Reviewed by Julie BeddoesIt is wonderful to see so many Canadianwriters on fiction bestseller lists in thiscountry and earning big advances for publicationabroad, especially at a time whenthe publishing industry is having a hardertime than ever keeping solvent. Most of thefiction that appeals to reviewers and prizejuries now is, however, a long way from theinnovative work of fifteen or twenty yearsago (to which, surely, a lot of the credit forthis notice must go). Perhaps this isunavoidable: socio-economic regression isthe condition of literary regression; conservativefiscal policy accompanies conservativefiction. As well, it is easy to sympathizewith publishers tempted to promote thesort of books that attract the sort of mediaattention that brings sales that balanceledgers. And probably the over-workedjuries for the various prizes have no moretime to look beyond surface appeal thanovernight reviewers and interviewers forradio and TV shows.The reviewer who cares passionately forthe well-being of Canadian publishing butis a bit bored by the stuff that is paying thebills might find herself in a dilemma if shedidn't remind herself that there is enoughadventurous and intellectually rewardingwriting going on that once in a while abook that is more than middle-brow andsecond-rate receives some recognition.When times are so hard for the small publisherswho have in the past nourished thiskind of writing it is surely up to the guyswith the big promotion budgets to work abit harder to find it. It is up to the hypeindustry to be a bit more discriminating inthe praise it gives and not to fall for the sortof literary tricks that seduce quick-readreviewers.Fifty years after the nouveau roman and agood century after the Modernists beganthe work of demolishing Victorian assumptions,one has a right to expect that novelsthat operate according to those assumptionswill give readers their money's worthby using the proven techniques. The bestrealist fiction has always offered its readersmany rewards: well-structured plots, crisesand denouements, engaging characterswith believable dilemmas and a satisfyingfeeling at the end that, no matter howimplausible the events described, thingshad to be that way.These novels by Gowdy and MacDonaldhave given joy to reviewers and sold a lot ofcopies. Mister Sandman has been nominatedfor four awards (Giller, Governor-General, Trillium and International ImpacDublin Literary Award) and won one(Marion Engel). Fall on Your Knees hasbeen nominated for a Giller. Gowdy isfamous for writing a story (in her collectionWe So Seldom Look on Love) that askedus to share the point of view of a necrophiliacwhile MacDonald is a successful actressand the author of the wonderful play, GoodNight Desdemona (Good Morning Juliet).However, Macdonald's book contains more132