The first book to make some waves this fall was Brian Mulroney’s weighty tome of a few weeks ago, a personal review (some say revision) of his days as Canada’s Prime Minister and singing partner to Ronald Reagan. Memoirs, 1939-1993, relives those key moments of the boy from Baie Comeau, both prior to his entry into politics and during the stormy years as Canada's Prime Minister through the eighties.
Not surprisingly for the guy with the gift of gab, Memoirs is a rather lengthy examination of his life, placing 1,152 pages worth of memories into a binding covered by the former Prime Minister's smiling face.
Not to be left for the remainder bins have been Conrad Black and Jean Chrétien, both of whom have books out for those looking for some snark in time for Christmas.
Lord (or is he a former Lord now?) Black’s latest release is an examination of the exploits of Richard Milhous Nixon and are a no doubt tad more erudite and verbose than the little guy from Shawinigan, but both it seems are ready to dish some dirt to send us to the book stores.
Black’s Nixon book which clocks in at 1168 pages, is by a smidgen the thickest of the three books vying for our attention, he traces the life and times of one of America’s most controversial Presidents from birth to death, it’s described as an opportunity to re-evaluate his remarkable “entire, eventful career” (Nixon’s that is, we think)
The Invincible Quest: the Life of Richard Milhous Nixon came out back in May, as his Lordship was occupied with some legal problems in the USA; in fact, those troubles have caused a few problems in the promotion of the book and have resulted in an unusual approach to the ever popular book signing circuit that all authors aspire to.
Due to the conditions of his legal worries, Lord Black can’t actually make a personal appearance at a book store near you, instead he plans on signing his books through a Canadian invention called LongPen, a remote signing device that scrawls an authors Conrad Black long distance in Toronto, while he sits in Palm Springs no doubt ruminating about the harshness of his quasi house arrest.
Douglas Pepper, Black's publisher and the president of McClelland & Stewart pointed out that it’s the best way to bring the author and his fans together at this time.
"Like any author, he likes to be able to sign his books for fans, and this was really the only way to do it, other than getting a planeload of his Canadian fans and shipping them down to Palm Beach."
Well I don’t know about those willing to line up in Toronto on Monday for their LongPen version, but if Lord Black was paying the tab and willing to wait a few months to sign some more, I think a trip down to Palm Beach would be nice, we could even buy his book there and get change back from our rocketing in value loonies…
It may even leave us with some left over cash to pick up My Years as Prime Minister, Jean Chrétien’s 435 page trip down memory lane. Compared to the girth of the other two efforts, we have visions of the Chretien book being knocked off over a weekend in between rounds of golf, but it still packs a bit of a punch, despite its comparatively thin offerings (though at 435 this is not your Coles notes for Prime Ministers!)
It is a remembrance which examines his ten years as Canada's twentieth Prime Minister and weighs in on such diverse topics as golf, sponsorgate, the strength of his wife Aline as an advisor as well a less than flattering account of his shared time with Paul Martin.
Mr. Chretien may wish to take advantage of the LongPen approach as well, just as his book was being made ready for shipment; the former Prime Minister was being rushed into a Montreal Hospital ten days ago for heart bypass surgery. A situation which makes the prospect of a lengthy and grueling cross Canada book tour probably off the agenda for the foreseeable future.
It will also be a way to keep the “self-serving goons” as he described the Martin hangers on, from crashing any book signings, seeking to challenge his interpretation of the events of those days.
For the moment, the Martin folks are taking the approach that “Undoubtedly there are clear differences in recollection between the two men.”
Hmmm, a most political understatement if ever there were one.
While the facts and interpretations are to be left in the eyes of the author, and the reviews left to those with the stamina to stay up late night after night, the release of such a collection of intellectual revelations has one giant booster, the pulp industry!
With a grand total of 2,755 pages of print between the three books, this fall’s book parade should give much hope for Canada’s struggling pulp and paper industry.
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