My best books of 2005

BY JOSEPH PLANTA

Saturday, 31 December 2005

VANCOUVER - With the end of 2005, herewith is a list of the year's best books according to me. The criteria, like last year is simple, that the book was released in 2005 and that I've read it. Unlike last year I'm not limiting myself to a ranking of ten, rather a listing of my top 15 books, with six honourable mentions.

There is no common theme amongst the 21 so listed, except that they're all seemingly non-fiction, at least we hope in the case of the Doris Kearns Goodwin book. I don't read fiction, and perhaps I'm doing myself a disservice. The only other criterion is that the book was able to hold my waning attention from cover to cover. In the case of these 21, they did.

I'm sure I've left off some deserving titles, so if you're inclined, drop me a note at the address below and I'll considering picking it up. Any book reader is open to a few suggestions from time to time.

1. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion (Knopf) is both fragile and formidable. Didion writes about her life in the wake of her husband, John Gregory Dunne's death, and her daughter's illness. It's a look at a woman coping with death, her questions and the answers she tries to find, evoking a melancholy that leaves the reader sympathetic. It is written with a force and a candour that is astonishing; then again Didion's no slouch as a writer.

2. I had thought that The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls (Scribner) was another book on celebrity gossip from the MSNBC columnist. I was slightly disappointed when it wasn't, however was quickly captivated by the remarkable story of Walls's childhood, which was nearly amazing. Walls writes wonderfully, making this a book that one read quickly, however spends much time after pondering the characters and situations she wrote about.

3. Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (Little, Brown) is a thought provoking book. It was much discussed this year, and when you read it you realise why.

4. Loss of Faith by Kim Bolan (McClelland & Stewart) is précis of the Air India bombing, investigation and trial, which saw a verdict handed down earlier this year. It provides background on the case, the players and the victims. It's timely, and it's also appropriately personal, something often overlooked in the news coverage of these past 20 years. As well, this book comes from no better an observer than Bolan, who has covered this story in one form or another throughout the last couple of decades.

5. Dean and Me: A Love Story (Doubleday) is a warm memoir from Jerry Lewis on his comedic partner, Dean Martin. It's obvious that the two of them wouldn't have been successful on their own were it not for their initial partnership. What's astonishing to read, at least for someone who wasn't around when they were partnered, was how big they were as performers, and how short their run together was. The book is a human look at two larger than life performers, who obviously loved each other very much; as well it's a great look at show business when it really was about the show. Then again, the break up of Martin and Lewis had to do with the business part of show business, as much as anything else.

6. Whether you agree or disagree with his conclusions, the foreign affairs column in the New York Times by Thomas L. Friedman is a must-read. His book, The World is Flat (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), was also mandatory reading this year for its insight on the way the world has changed, and how some in the world haven't. Yet.

7. When it was revealed earlier this year that W. Mark Felt, the number two man at the FBI during the Watergate burglary, was in fact the secret informant to Bob Woodward, it was the end to what was journalism's best kept secret from the last half of the twentieth century. Woodward released a quickie book, The Secret Man (Simon and Schuster), which detailed for the first time how the two met and used each other. It was also a melancholy sort of tale if only that Felt's declining health precipitated his family going public with his heretofore secret identity. Woodward got awfully personal, revealing much about himself, especially the guilt he had that he sort of used Felt and didn't contact him until very recently when it was perhaps too late when Felt's mind faded. Of course, it was interesting to note that after Woodward and Carl Bernstein's victory lap, Woodward was saddled with questions as to his own integrity due to his sorted involvement in the Judith Miller leak investigation.

8. Pierre by Nancy Southam (McClelland and Stewart) was another addition to the growing library of books on Pierre Trudeau. It wasn't an exhaustive discussion of Trudeau's legacy as prime minister, rather personal glimpses from friends and colleagues on how he was on a personal level. This was an insightful and welcome book on Trudeau.

9. Discussing bullshit was in vogue thanks to an academic tome by Henry G. Frankfurt Your Call is Important to Us: The Truth About Bullshit by Laura Penny (McClelland & Stewart) was perhaps more accessible, and was more a rallying cry against getting your chain jerked. It was at once funny as it was lamentable that bullshit is so pervasive.

10. Speaking of bullshit, The Secret Mulroney Tapes by Peter C. Newman (Random House Canada) was an interesting addition to the lacking literature on Brian Mulroney and his premiership. It was salacious as hell, and Mulroney has since sued Newman.

11. Conspiracy of Fools by Kurt Eichenwald (Broadway) was a substantial tome on the Enron affair. It is highly readable.

12. The Big Red Machine by Stephen Clarkson (UBC Press) looked at the federal Liberal Party and its electoral battles from 1974 onwards. Each of the campaigns are dissected, and unlike most academic books, this one is eminently readable. I shouldn't be surprised since Clarkson co-wrote the lauded two-volume biography of Pierre Trudeau. The Big Red Machine is a look not only at the dominant Canadian political party, but also the state of the country's political affairs these past three and a half decades.

13. The Great Feast of Light by John Doyle (McClelland & Stewart) is a delightful memoir of the Globe and Mail television critic's upbringing in Ireland, and the dawn of television broadcasting there.

14. Though I have the previous Frank McCourt bestsellers, regrettably I haven't read them. I did read his latest, Teacher Man (Scribner), which was a fine read. No wonder he sells books.

15. There were a few memoirs this year from television personalities, but one that was engaging and interesting at the same time was Talking Back by Andrea Mitchell (Viking). The NBC News chief foreign affairs correspondent isn't regarded in the Barbara Walters league of female news pioneers, but hers has been a storied life. You read about that in this book, and you realise exactly why she's as good as she gets.

Honourable mentions include:

Five Families by Selwyn Raab (St. Martin's Press) comes from an authority on organised crime in the eastern United States. This book is an accessible history of the players and their line of work, as well proof as to why the mafia (if it exists or not) remains a fascinating subject.

The Best of Jim Coleman edited by Jim Taylor (Harbour Publishing) was a remarkable book to read. I'm a little young to have read Coleman in his prime, but equally estimable Taylor has brought the best of Coleman to bear in this great collection.

Many books have been written by Abraham Lincoln, and perhaps Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster) was of the latest this season, of the highest profile. That's perhaps why it was as accessible as it was. Obviously, Goodwin has her biases, and she reveals them when she compares Lincoln to contemporary leaders, however sometimes they are apt comparisons to make.

I know very little about punk rock music, and frankly don't care for it very much. I read Fury's Hour by Warren Kinsella (Random House Canada) if only that he's not a bad writer, and he's not a bad guy. The fact he's on the outs with the current Liberal regime perhaps makes him a little more palatable. It didn't make me rush out to replace my Vic Damone CDs with those from the Sex Pistols; however I enjoyed reading Kinsella's frenetic and enthusiastic discussion of his love of punk and how it seemingly underscores his life, even now as a yuppie with grownup responsibilities that punk rockers seem to eschew.

Churchill and America by Martin Gilbert (McClelland & Stewart) is another weighty tome on Winston Churchill from the great man's biographer. It's a timely book.

Are Men Necessary? by Maureen Dowd (Penguin) was an awfully thought provoking book. If you're a dude reading this book, you can get a bit of insight into the minds of women, then again it does reveal a bit about us we'd rather it did not. Dowd, whether you hate her or love her, is a good writer. In this book she tackles the good, the bad, and the ugly of the relationships that men and women get themselves involved in.

-30-

Questions and comments may be sent to: editor@thecommentary.ca

An archive of Joseph Planta's previous columns can be found by clicking HERE.