Diplomat Robert Fowler recalls his 130 days trapped in the Sahara, kidnapped by Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb; Tom Jokinen describes his unlikely role as a supernumerary for the Canadian Opera Company; Chris Wood investigates the drilling process known as fracking; Derek McCormack notes Christmas’s kinship with Halloween; Drew Nelles ponders Montreal’s Arcade Fire; The Walrus Reads seven new books of note...