READING CANADA READS 2008

INTRODUCTION

Alex: Canada Reads is a week-long program that runs on CBC Radio One. Five guest panelists argue for a book they've selected to be made the one book that Canada should read together. It launched in 2002, part of a tidal wave of imitators of Chicago's uber-successful "One City, One Book" program in 2001. As far as I know this was a fad that didn't last more than a year even in Chicago. Though they kept the program going, and communities everywhere had similar contests, hardly anyone paid any attention. The weird thing is that Canada Reads has managed to not only keep going, but to grow as an institution. The program attracts a lot of buzz and, the Grail for all such endeavours, sells a bunch of books. I don't know the exact figures on the "bounce" (blog postings on the CBC website only talk about BookNet Canada's relative rankings of the five Canada Reads titles without providing any numbers), but I wouldn't be surprised if they are moving as many books as the Giller or the GG's - though anecdotal evidence I've tracked down is ambiguous.

It's a pity if they're not. Especially coming off of 2007, where the Giller (OK, Scotiabank Giller) was such a huge disappointment. In any event, a quality gap should come as no surprise. There are several obvious reasons why the Canada Reads selections are better, the main one being that the panelists aren't limited to choosing among books published in the past year. They also don't arrive at a shortlist by committee, which I think encourages less predictable selections. And the judges aren't the usual tribal suspects. There was a bit of controversy this past year over comments made about opening up the Man Booker jury to more outsiders, and whether literary prizes like the Orange Prize should have celebrities as judges. Well, Canada Reads puts such ideas to the test. On this year's jury we have a couple of authors (Lisa Moore and Dave Bidini), a hip-hop poet (maybe she's an author too, I don't know), a retired spaceman (nothing against astronauts, but how did this guy's name get put in the hat?), and one of the stars from Little Mosque on the Prairie (a bit of cross-promotion there from the Ceeb, not that there's anything wrong with that). And marketing the series is also helped by the way the Survivor-style structure encourages the public to read all of the books as they follow along. My understanding is that being named to the Giller shortlist (never mind the long list) provides very little bounce now at all. You have to win to get people to buy the book. But if you want to listen to this program and really feel engaged with the discussion you have to read all five.

I'll admit that when this series first started I didn't think much of the idea. But it seems to have really worked. And, after running my own Runaway Jury for the last several years, I like the idea of presenting what amount to transparent jury deliberations, talking about books in a public and accessible way. Whether you agree or disagree with what gets said (previous examples: Is poetry just too boring to read a whole book of? Are some authors not Canadian enough?), I think it's great to hear discussions like this taking place, and knowing that people are actually tuning in to listen.

Finally, I have to tip my hat to the CBC for the effort they've put into the show's website. It's remarkable how much stuff they have going on, from the blogs to the podcasts, the message board, the Facebook group, the Flickr photo collection, and especially all of the excellent archival content including interviews with the selected authors and other interesting background. They really have their act together. The whole program seems to be operating like a very efficient machine now, right down to the books being republished with the Canada Reads logo printed on the cover. Those aren't stickers! And how nice of them was it to want to get us internet types involved? It just gives me a warm glow. And you, Steve?

Steven: I'm glowing like a David Suzuki-approved, energy-efficient compact fluorescent light bulb. No, really, it is very kind of the CBC to invite us online commentators to throw in our two cents' worth and I'm chuffed to be participating.

I will admit that when Canada Reads first launched in 2002 I looked on it with a somewhat jaundiced eye, as I do most things, and not just because it seemed to baldly replicate the "One City, One Book" concept. The whole notion of a Survivor-style elimination contest struck me as a craven marketing gimmick and seemed somehow . . . anti-literary, almost. I tried to picture Gore Vidal and Cynthia Ozick with headphones clasped to their ears, passionately expostulating about the literary merits of this novel over that collection of stories, and I was frankly unable.  

But over the years, as the program has evolved and grown, I've revised my initial opinion and have become generally more enthusiastic about the endeavour. In past years, I’ve been cheered not only because the program seems to give the highlighted books a bump at the cash register, but also because it shines a light on titles such as Jacques Poulin's Volkswagen Blues that might otherwise languish in unjustified obscurity. True, every year there's at least one title that I find virtually unreadable - Monique Proulx's The Heart Is an Involuntary Muscle is perhaps the most notorious example from years past, and there is one on this year's list (of which, more later) - but by and large the books are solid. 

And the winners are never predictable. Alice Munro might be considered a shoo-in to take a contest of this nature, but the year that Love of a Good Woman was on the list it was booted off in the first or second round. By contrast, Hubert Aquin’s notoriously difficult postmodernist novella Next Episode took the prize in 2003, and Frank Parker Day’s Rockbound, which had been virtually forgotten by everyone except academics and, apparently, Donna Morrisey, won in 2005.  

A large part of this has to do with the nature of the selection process, which, as you suggest, Alex, is not collaborative among three jury members, all of whom share a similar sensibility. And I think the idea of having an astronaut - along with a musician (before he was a writer, Dave Bidini was in a little Canadian band called The Rheostatics), a hip-hop poet, and an actor (and, yes, okay, one novelist) - is brilliant. One of the reasons the lists of competing books have been historically so diverse is that they are not subject to all the politics and psuedo-highmindedness that surround granting organizations and awards juries. These books are actually chosen by readers, on the basis of how much the reader enjoyed the experience of reading the text. When you listen to the show, the people arguing for the various titles are passionately engaged, because they actually like the books they’re advocating. By contrast, the Scotiabank Giller Prize telecast is a masterpiece of soporific boredom.  

The other reason I'm intrigued about this year's iteration of Canada Reads is that for the first time it will be hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, who is taking over for Bill Richardson. Ghomeshi’s Q program on CBC Radio is another cultural artifact that I was initially suspicious of, but have been largely won over by, and largely because of the host. Ghomeshi brings a youthful exuberance to the proceedings, and is a smart and articulate interviewer and commentator. So I'm looking forward to listening to the 2008 edition of Canada Reads under his aegis, and to the inevitable Monday-morning quarterbacking that we’ll no doubt engage in here.  

Let the games begin.

Alex: You found one of this year's books unreadable? This is already getting interesting.   

Up next: The 2008 selections previewed!