Alberto Manguel at the CBC Radio Studio One Book Club October 15, 2007

This year’s Massey Lecturer is Alberto Manguel, and CBC Radio British Columbia is honoured to host him in this special Studio One Book Club in Vancouver!

In the 2007 Massey Lectures, writer Alberto Manguel takes a fresh look at some of the problems we face in creating new societies. Race riots in France, political murder in the Netherlands, bombings in Britain - all appear to be symptoms of a multicultural experiment gone awry. Politicians and sociologists are puzzled; why does it seem to be so difficult for us to live together, when the alternatives are so demonstrably horrifying? Can it be that blood is still more important than peaceful coexistence?

In The City of Words, Alberto Manguel suggests a fresh approach: we should look at what writers have to say. Maybe our books and stories hold secret keys to the human heart, keys that social planners can’t find. With his trademark wit and erudition, Manguel suggests that perhaps we should look on the library shelf marked “fiction” for the book titled How to Build a Better Society.

Official Website: http://www.cbc.ca/bc/bookclub/albertomanguel.html