344 pages New Star Books Reviewed by Christine Hearn

"If you can remember the '60s, then you weren't there" is the famous quote. So if you want to revisit what you can't remember, or if you are too young for the '60s but want to taste the vibe, here's a book for you.

University of Alberta historian Lawrence Aronsen (MA'75) takes you back, way back, to a time of peace and love and Easter Be-ins, of bell-bottoms and tie-dyes and peace symbols, of anti –Vietnam War protests and free love and LSD. It was also a time of very straight people with short haircuts, a right-wing Social Credit government, and a developer mayor called Tom "Terrific" Campbell.

Aronsen covers it all in chapters titled "Hippies and Their Discontents," "Liberating Higher Education," "The Sodom of the North," "Getting Higher," "Peaceniks and Protests," and "Conclusion: Who Owns Sixties Vancouver"? There are lots of old photos (mostly from the still-publishing Georgia Straight), concert posters, a cover by the iconic Bob Masse, a terrific bibliography, and a link to former aq columnist Rick McGrath's (BA'71) marvellous website, <www.rickmcgrath.com>.

"Mr. Big" Very Bad
When police pretend to be criminals and scare suspects into confessing, the confessions are often suspect, concludes a new book by SFU criminologists Joan Brockman and Kouri Keenan (MA'09). Mr. Big: Exposing Undercover Investigations in Canada examines 81 Mr. Big stings and concludes that the technique is so vulner- able to producing false confessions that it should be severely reined in or thrown out entirely. <www.fernwoodpublishing.ca>

Art Influence
In Enfoldment and Infinity: An Islamic Genealogy of New Media Art, Laura Marks explores the relationship between contem- porary media art and classical Islamic art. Marks, Dena Wosk university professor in art and cultural studies at SFU's School for the Contemporary Arts, argues that con- temporary art has Islamic roots, but usually doesn't know it.

Can Writing Be Learned?
Betsy Warland, director of SFU's Writer's Studio, says yes – but it's hard work. Breathing the Page: Reading the Act of Writing presents a fresh and demanding approach to students as well as to writers further along in their craft. The book offers both practical advice and considerable insight.

Homophobic Bullying
Get That Freak: Homophobia and Transphobia in High Schools by SFU criminologists Rebecca Haskell and Brian Burtch allows 16 queer youth to speak for themselves about the bullying problem in high school. Their verdict is that everyday verbal abuse is as much of a problem as the threat of physical violence.

Twigg's List
B.C. Bookworld founder Alan Twigg com- piles a controversial lineup of the province's literary lions. The Essentials: 150 Great B.C. Books & Authors leaves out P.K. Page, among other notables, but includes many who are little known. With the coopera- tion of the SFU Library and UBC Special Collections, the book links the reader to thousands of B.C. books and authors on Twigg's public reference site, hosted by SFU, <www.abcbookworld.com>. Twigg was 2007 Shadbolt Fellow at SFU. aq

Book Cover Scan: Coursety Erik Tofsrud

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