Contrary to what might it appear like on my blog, I don't in fact read exclusively Governor-General's award winners. That's actually why some of these books seem to take a very long time. The G-G project is a definite long term multiyear thing.
In any case, I recently read a nice Canadian political humour novel, The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis. The book has an interesting history. Fallis, tired of rejection, recorded the whole novel as a series of podcasts on his website. Between the podcasts and self-publishing, Fallis managed to attract the attention of a commercial publisher, and in 2008 The Best Laid Plans won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour.
The Best Laid Plans follows the improbable campaign, election, and service of Scottish-born engineering professor Angus McLintock as a federal member of parliament. McLintock is in many ways a classic "straight shooter" candidate, who is determined to do what he thinks is best for the country irrespective of polls, politics, and party. His election only comes by way of unintentional accident (I will leave the particulars unspoiled), but he comes to grow into and even revel in his new position.
The Best Laid Plans is resminiscent of other works, such as Bulworth, but it is truly Canadian through and through. It even delves into the intricacies of parliamentary procedures. The novel is very enjoyable on the whole, although the last third is too optimistic for my own tastes. Nevertheless, the Canadian political humour novel isn't exactly a bestselling, prolific genre, so if the description interests you, I highly recommend giving it a read (or at least a listen).
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