Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Raise a reader comes to the Hill


Monday, was Stephen Harper's birthday (we'll leave aside the irony of the nation's leader celebrating his birth on tax deadline day) and as the Prime Minister celebrated his 48th birthday, a member of Canada's cultural community decided what the MP really needs is the gift of reading.

In what author Yann Martel promises will be a bi-monthly tradition, the author dropped off a book for the PM, his way of protesting cutbacks to Canada's literary community.

For his first selection for the Harper book club, Martel selected George Orwell's Animal Farm. A timeless epic of political intrigue, which perhaps the PM could read aloud from during cabinet, just in case some of the backbenchers are getting a little uppity.

Harper's press people said that these days the PM is a tad too busy to be reading the classics, and that when he does have time to read he apparently only reaches for children's books for the little Harper's and government documents, which we assume he pulls out when he wants the kids to fall asleep.

Now, here's the part of the blog where we give the readership the chance to participate!

Feel free to leave a comment in our comment section, advising which book you think Martel should drop off next for the Prime Minister's reading pile. Play nice Podunkians, play nice!

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