Somehow I missed this one and it took an article from the other side of the continent to snap me to attention:
The Canadian author Yann Martel, who wrote the best-selling novel Life of Pi, wants the country’s prime minister, Stephen Harper, to pay more attention to the arts. So Mr. Martel is sending him some reading. Mr. Martel said he was upset that Mr. Harper had appeared to pay no attention during a recent ceremony honoring Canadian artists, Reuters reported. “But he must have moments of stillness,” Mr. Martel said. “For as long as Stephen Harper is prime minister of Canada, I vow to send him every two weeks, mailed on a Monday, a book that has been known to expand stillness.” First up: The Death of Ivan Ilyich by Leo Tolstoy. There was no immediate comment from Mr. Harper’s office. Mr. Martel said he would post all selections and other developments on the Internet at whatisstephenharperreading.ca.
Yann Martel, you crack me up but might I suggest an alternate URL? whatistheretodoinsaskatoon.ca. Everyone, watch Martel’s website and you will hopefully have a better and more clever book list to discuss.
I hope it’s a short list.
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