SHOCKED AND APPALLED: A CENTURY OF LETTERS TO THE GLOBE AND MAIL. Edited by Jack Kapica. Toronto, Lester & Orpen Dennys, c1985. 297pp, cloth, $19.95, ISBN 0-88619-062-2. CIP Grades 11 and up Reviewed by Iyvan Michalchyshyn Volume 13 Number 5 1985 September Take a major Canadian newspaper and select the most intriguing letters written to the editor over the last century and you have the formula for a very engaging piece of work. The title in this case gives a very useful description of the contents. I think Kapica in his present position as editor of "Letters to the Editor" for the Globe and Mail has done a masterful job in creating a book that all will enjoy. The volume is structured into twenty thematic chapters. The themes are extremely diverse and most intriguing, everything from the flag debate to the correct plural of "hippopotamus." All of these are loosely arranged in chronological order. The actual letters demonstrate a wide range of emotion particularly when opposing views are placed side by side. Many prominent Canadians have penned letters which are included in this work. Additional strengths of the book are the editorial descriptions of selected writers as well as the use of indexes for writers and subject matter. Some might discount this book as trite and trivial, but it merits more than these types of labels. In this age of information overload, when issues great and small are discarded quickly, Kapica has given us the opportunity to reflect on what makes Canada and its people tick. With satire, whimsy, invective, and much more, Canadians show some of their true colors in this book. Iyvan Michalchyshyn, Gordon Bell H.S., Winnipeg, Man.