One of several books by the Canadian known mainly as a comedian and daredevil, this is part biography and part history. He goes through a few of his old adventures such as in a Varney, Ontario road race with old cars with no brakes. In another he is tasered in Ottawa, unfortunately on the same day as a misidentified man died by being tasered. That episode was wisely never aired. The most daring would appear to be tagging black bears in Algonquin Park.
But as the book progresses it also becomes more serious and more political. He clearly was not fond of either Stephen Harper as a person nor of his politics. He interviews Belinda Stronach, one of the few who openly disagreed with the all-controlling Stephen Harper, and then deserted him to become a liberal cabinet minister and advocate for the international centennial goals. His visit with her to Africa as part of those international goals with Jeffrey Sacks is touching and mind changing. The resulting decision to sponsor the Spread the Net was a huge success among school children as it saved many lives.The background of the famously recalled nude diving into the lake with Bob Rae is shown to have been a diversion from the fact that they had caught no fish that day.
There are good insights into what is involved into the weekly planning of a television show and he has nothing but praise for those who did it for years.
There are are far too many superlatives, too many famous names dropped and too few jokes in this disappointing book for those who are expecting more of the mostly entertainment genre of previous books. But for those who want a serious discourse on Canadian history, this is a great book.
7/10.
The Passionate Reader 