The Best Laid Plans

Selected as the 2011 CBC Canada Reads Winner! This book beat out work by Douglas Coupland and Will Ferguson because it is very, very good -- a terrific Canadian political satire. Here's the set up: A burnt-out politcal aide quits just before an election -- but is forced to run a hopeless campaign on the way out. He makes a deal with a crusty old Scot, Angus McLintock -- an engineering professor who will do anything, "anything, " to avoid teaching English to engineers -- to let his name stand in the election. No need to campaign, certain to lose, and so on. Then a great scandal blows away his opponent, and to their horror, Angus is elected. He decides to see what good an honest M.P. who doesn't care about being re-elected can do in Parliament. The results are hilarious -- and with chess, a hovercraft, and the love of a good woman thrown in, this very funny book has something for everyone.