Kay
Burns and David
Eso’s edition of Leo Ferrari’s
The Earth Is Flat! introduces us
to a long-forgotten satirical work, which, in
an age of fake news, possesses renewed relevance. Ferrari,
a philosopher by training, draws on his
extensive knowledge of classical thought to present a
history of ideas that is sometimes accurate, but more frequently
speculative. He traces the conflict between “Globularist”
and “Planoterrestrial” beliefs from antiquity to his
contemporary moment of the early 1970's. He also charts the
tongue-in-cheek activities of the Flat Earth Society of Canada,
which he co-founded in 1970 with celebrated authors Alden
Nowlan and Raymond Fraser. Other notable members
included literary luminaries Al Pittman, Farley Mowat,
Gwendolyn MacEwen, and Patrick Lane. The author
blurs the line between seriousness and humour
in the interests of exploring philosophical concepts
such as the nature of belief and
the implications of technological modernity.
