This is a thorny, challenging, brilliant book.

Fawcett serves up a series of memorable and provocative essays illustrating and reflecting on the effects of mass media. The sequence of essays is anchored by a running commentary (placed in the footnotes and intentionally not sync’ed to the beginnings and ends of each essay) on how the Khmer Rouge destroyed the memories and imagination of the Cambodian people and culture.

Cambodia is one of the Canadian non-fiction titles I’ve recommended for Canada Reads 2012: True Stories. If you’d like to support this book as a possible Canada Reads finalist, you can vote for it here, as well as perusing some other great recommendations.