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saeverra's review
4.0
Definitely a personal memoir and love letter to Canada and memories of living in Canada and living abroad as a Canadian
A lot of comments seem to be super scathing regarding the ideological beliefs presented by Mike Myers in the final chapters. The mentions are relatively minor other than some references to Justin Trudeau which makes sense when contrasted to how much of an impact Pierre Elliott Trudeau had upon the formative years of Myers. Also, if it took this book to realize that Myers is a progressive, you've been rather blind...
Enjoyable, humourous and personal, I enjoyed this one :)
A lot of comments seem to be super scathing regarding the ideological beliefs presented by Mike Myers in the final chapters. The mentions are relatively minor other than some references to Justin Trudeau which makes sense when contrasted to how much of an impact Pierre Elliott Trudeau had upon the formative years of Myers. Also, if it took this book to realize that Myers is a progressive, you've been rather blind...
Enjoyable, humourous and personal, I enjoyed this one :)
lindseysparks's review
4.0
This is a love letter to Canada or maybe more specifically Toronto. It mainly focuses on Myers's childhood in Canada, then has a some stories about his life after leaving and his thoughts on Canada now. I would never have picked up a memoir of Mike Myers on it's own, but knowing this was all about Canada I had to read it. I love Canada, but Myers comments several times that you don't hear much about it in America. I was happy to actually get a couple of his references, all hockey related, when he talked about things only Canadians get. As a huge hockey fan, I especially loved any of his stories involving hockey. I will be going to Toronto in a few months and will get to see the Leafs play for the first time, so I really enjoyed all of the stuff he wrote about going to their games. This is definitely written by a Canadian, so this isn't the book you want if you're looking for the inside scoop on his SNL cast members. If he says anything mean he never shares the person's name and focuses much more on people being nice. This also makes me want to rewatch Wayne's World for the Canadian references he slipped in!
amusicalgeek's review
4.0
what a great book to read so close to the day we celebrate Canada's 150th birthday.
Mike is a very proud Canadian and this book has helped me realize how much most of us take for granted about where we live.
It also helped that I could relate to a lot of his stories on a personal level. Mike and I are roughly the same age, spent a similar amount of time in Toronto, love the Leafs, the Gasworks and the TTC.
Well done Mike...and thanks for getting Justin elected.
Mike is a very proud Canadian and this book has helped me realize how much most of us take for granted about where we live.
It also helped that I could relate to a lot of his stories on a personal level. Mike and I are roughly the same age, spent a similar amount of time in Toronto, love the Leafs, the Gasworks and the TTC.
Well done Mike...and thanks for getting Justin elected.
readingrenbo's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
benrogerswpg's review
4.0
A really fun and funny book on Canadian history.
I learned a lot about Canada and Myers' upbringing.
I thought this was an excellent book - part history, part memoir.
Highly recommended for any Myers fans or just Canadian comedian fans in general - he mentions lots of them!
4.6/5
I learned a lot about Canada and Myers' upbringing.
I thought this was an excellent book - part history, part memoir.
Highly recommended for any Myers fans or just Canadian comedian fans in general - he mentions lots of them!
4.6/5
eososray's review
2.0
Well Mike Myers, your Canada is not my Canada. I'm not sure if it's the 15 year difference in age or growing up on the opposite side of the country but I didn't recognize a lot of it, except for maybe a few iconic TV shows (Mr Dressup is a classic). I certainly didn't recognize the Canadian accent parts, I'm not sure where the Vancouver way of speaking came from but I've never heard it.
This book was very much a effort in nostalgia, and that's great, life in Scarborough with English parents, it's a good story. Saying that Canada is this way or that way when you haven't lived here for 30 years.....well, I think you're out of touch. Every country evolves and I think Canada has, maybe not in the way they were hoping it would in the 70s but it works, and in a quiet, unassuming, conservative way, we've become proud of being Canadian, we don't apologize for it and while Bob and Doug are still funny, they're caricatures of what we were, not what we are.
I love that Mike Myers created an ode to Canada, I love that he's so proud to be Canadian, I think ending your piecemeal memoir of oddly incomplete anecdotes with an ode to the Prime Minister a bit odd. Still, I am proud of all the Canadians that make it big, I love the CBC and I love that he told everyone that Canadian Tire (btw, I'm not sure anyone calls it Crappy Tire anymore) money is our real money and that we have a Canadian Christmas in July but I think he should have stuck to a memoir and not assumed that Canada is still stuck in the 1980s he remembers so fondly.
This book was very much a effort in nostalgia, and that's great, life in Scarborough with English parents, it's a good story. Saying that Canada is this way or that way when you haven't lived here for 30 years.....well, I think you're out of touch. Every country evolves and I think Canada has, maybe not in the way they were hoping it would in the 70s but it works, and in a quiet, unassuming, conservative way, we've become proud of being Canadian, we don't apologize for it and while Bob and Doug are still funny, they're caricatures of what we were, not what we are.
I love that Mike Myers created an ode to Canada, I love that he's so proud to be Canadian, I think ending your piecemeal memoir of oddly incomplete anecdotes with an ode to the Prime Minister a bit odd. Still, I am proud of all the Canadians that make it big, I love the CBC and I love that he told everyone that Canadian Tire (btw, I'm not sure anyone calls it Crappy Tire anymore) money is our real money and that we have a Canadian Christmas in July but I think he should have stuck to a memoir and not assumed that Canada is still stuck in the 1980s he remembers so fondly.
canadajanes's review
2.0
Not actually that good. A few interesting anecdotes, but very jumbled and not a great flow. Felt rushed or that he was just writing a book because he was supposed to. Only thing that made it worth while was that you could tell that he does really love Canada, so while it wasn't well written, at least it was written with love.
bibliotequeish's review
3.0
This book was not what I was expecting.
I thought this book felt like it was written by someone who read about Canada, or researched Canada, and bought into many of the Canadian stereotypes ... and then put it in a book.
While at times funny, and nostalgic it kind of missed the mark.
I thought this book felt like it was written by someone who read about Canada, or researched Canada, and bought into many of the Canadian stereotypes ... and then put it in a book.
While at times funny, and nostalgic it kind of missed the mark.
livrad's review
5.0
This was a great book. Not only is it the story of Mike Myers' childhood and career, it is a love letter to Canada's history, Canadian culture, and the future of Canada. Outside of frequently being laugh out loud funny, the most notable thing about this book is how humble Myers is. There is not a person he has forgotten who helped him, cast him, or supported him in his life, and he is so gracious throughout the entire book about both the people and the country who made him who he is today.