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3.9 AVERAGE
3.9 AVERAGE
It was pretty funny. I like Mike Myers and his comedy more after reading his book.
This was delightful to listen to as read by the author, complete with accents, one of Mike Myers' specialties. It's a mix of personal growing-up memoir and light Canadian history (Canadian history being something that I, like most Americans, never learned about). This was another book for which Jason, near in age and similarly emigrated to the US, felt like the exact target audience, and it was extra-fun to listen to this on a drive to Canada. I ordered a "double double" at Tim Horton's and it worked! [Editing to add: I ended up checking out the print version, too, which is worth it for the photos and visuals. I forgot how much Toronto's naming of city trash cans made me giggle -- Ricky Receptacle!!! -- and there is a photo to prove this really happened. LOLforever.]
Several stories had me laughing out loud, and I also found some parts to be fairly philosophical. I've thought quite a bit about this part about mission statements and storytelling:
"Let me illustrate. In Canada, if somebody came up and punched you, a Canadian would ask 'What did I do?' In America, if somebody randomly punched you, most Americans would ask, 'What's that guy's problem?' America has more of a sense of itself than we do. They have a clear mission statement, we don't. Americans individuated from stuffy old Europe by becoming the best storytellers in the world. They wrote their own powerful creation myth; they wrote their own powerful mission statement. It's been said that Rome ruled the world with the broadsword and the phalanx, and Britain ruled the world with the three-masted ship. America, it seems, is ruling the world with the moving image. Hollywood industrialized mythology, and then weaponized it."
Several stories had me laughing out loud, and I also found some parts to be fairly philosophical. I've thought quite a bit about this part about mission statements and storytelling:
"Let me illustrate. In Canada, if somebody came up and punched you, a Canadian would ask 'What did I do?' In America, if somebody randomly punched you, most Americans would ask, 'What's that guy's problem?' America has more of a sense of itself than we do. They have a clear mission statement, we don't. Americans individuated from stuffy old Europe by becoming the best storytellers in the world. They wrote their own powerful creation myth; they wrote their own powerful mission statement. It's been said that Rome ruled the world with the broadsword and the phalanx, and Britain ruled the world with the three-masted ship. America, it seems, is ruling the world with the moving image. Hollywood industrialized mythology, and then weaponized it."
While I enjoyed the first 80 or so pages, my enjoyment quickly transformed to mild annoyance and, then, downright disgust. Firstly, I have lived in Canada all my life and have never encountered ANYONE who sounds like Stompin' Tom Connors, the Ottawa Valley accent does not typify the Canadian accent, and someone who left Canada over 30 years ago has no business discussing Canadian politics and labelling us as non-progressive. Nor should he devote an entire chapter to deifying Justin Trudeau. I think Mike Myers needs to admit that he has lost touch with his motherland and is, in fact, now an American. And like many of his fellow Americans, he doesn't get us at all.
I loved this book. I laughed through most of it, but I cried through the final chapters. Thanks Mike.
Mike Myers, the actor. Wayne's World, Austin Powers, Shrek, and now the host of The Gong Show.
This book is partly autobiographical, but Myers life is not the point of this book. This is about his relationship with his home country Canada. I learned much about Canada that I didn't know because as Myers phrases it, Americans view Canada as the U.S.'s hat, a nice accessory. He also discusses his love for Canada while living in the U.S. and also his feelings for Canada when his parents are British.
He covers large portions of his life, but again, that is not the point. The book is about Canada and what it means to be Canadian. At the end it turns very political, which I believe to be the point of writing the book. This caught me off guard as Myers had not been political in his career. Very little in the book is stick with you for years memorable, but it has some funny stories, defines Canada and Canadians, was overall enjoyable.
This book is partly autobiographical, but Myers life is not the point of this book. This is about his relationship with his home country Canada. I learned much about Canada that I didn't know because as Myers phrases it, Americans view Canada as the U.S.'s hat, a nice accessory. He also discusses his love for Canada while living in the U.S. and also his feelings for Canada when his parents are British.
He covers large portions of his life, but again, that is not the point. The book is about Canada and what it means to be Canadian. At the end it turns very political, which I believe to be the point of writing the book. This caught me off guard as Myers had not been political in his career. Very little in the book is stick with you for years memorable, but it has some funny stories, defines Canada and Canadians, was overall enjoyable.
funny
medium-paced
emotional
funny
informative
lighthearted
fast-paced
informative
medium-paced
Memoir and humorous description of the Canadian character