IN 1984, the year after the publication of The Game, thefirst of histwo highly successful books on hockey, Ken Dryden was appointed youthcommissioner of Ontario."Very early in that job," Dryden writes, "I had come to realize thatthe people I was supposed to be acting for I didn`t know." He goes on: These were people who go unnoticedbecause they aren`t very noticeable and who for the most part don`t want to benoticed.... What did they think about? How did they spend their time? Whatmattered to them? What did they hope for, what did they dream? The Moved and the Shaken is Dryden`sbiography of one"not very noticeable" person. Frank Bloye is 43, a Catholic of Irish descent. He livesin Scarborough, Ontario, with his wife of nearly 20 years and their three children.He works nine to five, Monday to Friday, in Credit Card Services at ImperialOil. When he is not working, he pays bills or watches television with hisfamily. In the summer, he putters about the swimming pool, grows tomatoes, anddoes minor repairs to house and property. He does not travel; he rarely goes tomovies; he is not terribly interested in politics. Through 306 piges, thereader learns more about Frank Bloye than he or she is likely to want to know.As the second youngest child in a large family, Frank felt a sense of isolation that permeateshis adult life. He is a bit of a depressive, and, at times, seems merelypathetic. In recalling his childhood, Frank talks "with pleasure,confidence and pride about just three things, being an altar boy, being managerof the Don Mills high-school football team, and his job at Dominion." Butis this how Frank sees himself, or rather how Dryden has decided to portrayhim? Dryden writes with a strong voice. The narrative shifts back and forthfrom the first to the third person. Sometimes text is set in quotation marks oritalics; often it is not: I`m an average guy. I`ve been average allmy life .... Inever saw myself as anything more, I never tried to be. You have to learn to beaverage. Often, it is difficult to tell who isspeaking, whose opinions are being offered, whose interpretation is beingpresented. Dryden may be telling the story - in all its specificity - of oneman`s life, but he is also attempting to portray Frank as an archetype: aneveryman, an "average" Canadian. As such, the success or failure ofthis book largely depends on who is reading it and how he or she identifies or doesnot identify with Frank`s life. Clearly, as a white, middle-class, heterosexualmale living in southern Ontario, Frank Bloye is not everyone`s - if anyone`s -idea of the "average",Canadian. As well, Dryden alludes to elementsin Frank`s character - his latent racism and patriarchal attitudes; his dislikefor anyone who is not like himself, his distrust of art, education, andpolitics - that make it difficult to empathize with him. If reading The Movedand the Shaken offersany pleasures, they are perverse ones. Dryden lived with Frank for a week,"sleeping on the couch in the TV room, driving with him and Carolyn towork and back" ; and is clearly felt through watches, makes notes, drawsconclusions. For the reader, there is a certain voyeuristic pleasure in delvinginto another`s intimate thoughts and actions. But like anyone who has stoodwatching a house on fire, I was left with a feeling of disgust. I was disgustedwith myself for the interest I took in someone else`s suffering and failings.Closing the book, I felt a strong need to wash my hands.