Last Train to Toronto: A Canadian Rail Odyssey

In a spellbinding mixture of history, travel, sociology and nostalgia, Pindell again displays the fine eye for detail previously demonstrated in Making Tracks . The New Hampshirite's recent year-long, 18,000-mile rail journey through Canada has given him worthwhile insights on a number of topics. The book's main political thesis--that the government's cutback in passenger rail service pared to the core the transportation of Canadian culture--becomes secondary to the stories of the building of the various rail lines the author travels and the range of people he meets. Also included are thoughtful observations on separatists in Quebec, the profound differences between Western and Eastern Canadians, the nature and cause of the anti-American sentiment which seems pervasive in Canada, and the Canadian penchant for nude dancing. Whether discovering the isolation of Northern British Columbia, chatting with immigrants and fellow travelers or describing the superhuman effort involved in laying track across the Rockies, Pindell is on target in presenting the variety of Canadian life. (Jan.)