Noah Richler

An impolite, error-filled polemic that spews nonsense about serious subjects, few - if any - of which the author appears, even superficially, to comprehend. Too bad, as he had some fine straw-man-like material, including the deceitful, autocratic government of Stephen Harper, quite likely the only PM in Canadian history to have viscerally hated the very country he was leading. Instead, he pursues a windy, obtuse, forced comparison of epic vs novel as a narrative device, and cranks off inane suggestions near the end to close out his vacuous, idiotic argument. Garbage like this, with its pumped up assumptions about Canadian character (which, of course, only he understands), Canadian values (which, of course, are those only he and his ilk espouse), and the tawdriness of Canadian interests (which only he is guilelessly entitled to lampoon and dismiss), are what has led contemporary liberalism to such a sad, self-contradictory impasse: if only their opponents would succumb, if only the citizenry would stop being duped by avatars of militarism and greed, if only the press and police and big business and all levels of government etc etc would see the light. If not so deeply engrained on the Canadian left, if not so injurious to vision, compromise, and governance, it would simply be pathetic. Instead, it is positively dangerous, and a screaming example of the acidic foolishness that has paved the way for rightwing nut jobs to now appear as reasonable defenders of common sense.… (lisätietoja)

Noah Richler is a Canadian writer and journalist known for writing about politics and culture. In 2015, he decided to run as a federal member of Parliament for the New Democratic Party, and this book describes his experience on the campaign trail in a Toronto riding. Mr. Richer says he didn't run in order to write a book....but he didn't get elected, so he decided to do so.

The book offers a look into political campaigns that few of us will personally witness. As a first-time candidate, Mr. Richler had to assemble a team, fund raise and knock on doors. He was running against a powerful incumbent who had held t he seat for 18 years (and continues to do so). It was interesting to see how the national and local campaigns and priorities usually (but not always) meshed and the level of support and oversight Mr. Richler's campaign received from the national party bosses.

Mr. Richler brings to his writing stories of some of the people he met as he knocked on doors, which were always interesting. He also tells about some of his staff/volunteers. I sometimes had difficulties remembering who was who, but nevertheless got a sense of the challenges and minor rewards of being a candidate.

Very interesting read.… (lisätietoja)