Independence Day

Happy Independence Day to our pals down south. No, no – not Calgary, further south, the US of A. Stuck in Iraq, Toyota #1, a Vice-President inventing new branches of government, a new Michael Moore movie pointing out the problems of the US healthcare “system”: things seem a little grim down south. But America and Americans seem to shake it off. I’ve been in Chicago and Washington, DC in the past month and, as usual, was impressed with the vigour and confidence of our continental partners. Certainly the touristy areas of big city America may not be representative of all of USA, but life seems pretty okay down there.

A fine fictional look at American life in the late 20th century is Richard Ford’s trilogy of novels about everyman Richard Branscombe. He first appeared in The Sportswriter in 1986, then in Independence Day in 1995 and finally in The Lay of the Land in 2006.