2012-39 - The Best Laid Plans, by Terry Fallis

39 - The Best Laid Plans, by Terry Fallis, 312 pages, McClelland and Stewart, 2007
WHY I PICKED IT: Saw it at the airport
ELAPSED TIME: 2 days
RATING: Very Good

I bought this book because of the back-story: Fallis couldn't get a publisher for his novel, so he read it and released each chapter as a podcast.  So many people listened, that he self-published... and won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour... must be worth a read, right?

The book can be broken down into three sections:
a) The Prologue - Where you meet Daniel Addison - ex-speechwriter for the Leader of the Official Opposition, recently single, and freshman professor at the University of Ottawa.
b) The First Half - Where he convinces his landlord (a crusty old engineering professor from Scotland) to run for the Liberal Seat in a historically strong Tory stronghold.
c) The Second Half - Where he struggles to balance the power of the CPOs (Cynical Political Operatives) with his own preferred path as a IPW (Idealist Policy Wonk).

(a) is funny.  (b) is really good and really funny.  (c) is just good.  The book could actually end quite well at the end of the First Half.  If you haven't read it, but are thinking of doing so, consider quitting at this point.