THE PERFECT PIECE: MONOLOGUES FROM CANADIAN PLAYS Toronto, Playwrights Canada Press, 1990. 276pp, paper, $12.95 ISBN 0-88754-198-3. CIP Grades 10 and up/Ages 15 and up Reviewed by Melanie Fogel. Volume 19 Number 4 1991 September The Perfect Piece comprises over 130 monologues that actors can use as audition pieces. Each is presented with a very brief description of its context and the approximate speaking time. Interspersed among the monologues are public domain illustrations with "cute" acting-related quips and quotations and comments from people in the field. All the pieces come from plays by members of Playwrights Union Canada, and were chosen with the help of professional actors. We are not told who had the last word. Anyone who has ever raked the pages of a complete works of William Shakespeare searching for something that would sound good and not be hackneyed will appreciate this effort by the Playwrights Union. The introduc­tion warns actors to use this as a tool to find a likely piece, and then go read the whole play (most of them published by the Playwrights Union). For the general reader, this is an interesting sampler of what's been going on in Canadian theatre over the last twenty years. It's a book you can browse through and there's plenty to pique your interest. Melanie Fogel, Ottawa, Ont.