Review

They know how the system works... do you?

Sigh.... Perhaps it's a statement about the woeful state of contemporary fiction or the emergence of reality television from emotional austerity to a new kind of "Friends" the common folk can identity with, or maybe it's all about T.S. Eliot's April being the cruelest month, but Jill Franklin's how-to is probably the most poignant piece of non-fiction this season. For in an age of both increased self-entitlement and corporate self-interest, the Auto Accident Survivor's Guide for BC speaks about both the heartfelt and legalese of traffic-related trauma.

Technically, it’s a self-help book and a gutsy one at that (we are talking about ICBC here) with directions that sound first-person, easy-to-follow (certainly given Franklin’s own personal dealings with ICBC). But somewhere beyond the details and exhaustive research lies an affecting indictment and warning about our random, meandering and rushed society.

Who’d have thought a book about "Navigating the medical-legal-insurance system" would be a great reference source and a philosophical forehead crinkler? Maybe it has to do with reading it around Easter….

Chris DeVito
Adbusters Magazine, former editor