For the past 15 years, the first Book Banter column of the new year always meant taking one last look at the year before and see which books stood out for me over the previous 12 months. This past year, like every other year, I have read an average of 50 books, so that it can be reviewed on mtltimes.ca every week, twice a month on Peter Anthony Holder’s “Stuph File Program” podcast, and regularly on my blog Stuart Nulman’s Grapevine. Choosing a book to review is always done through a personal process of elimination, and that same process was done as I decided which were my favorite books of 2022.
And 2022 had no shortage of literary highlights. Somehow, former U.S. President Donald Trump has remained perfect fodder for the book publishing industry, with more insider books being published about the controversial ex-chief executive, who is still the subject of intense scrutiny more than two years after his electoral defeat. The two most noteworthy books on the subject were Maggie Haberman’s Confidence Man and Bob Woodward’s audio book The Trump Tapes (which will be released in book form this month); however, if the January 6 Committee’s report will be published as a book for the general public to consume, you’ve got a customer right here. Also, a novelist named Colleen Hoover has stealthily conquered the paperback fiction best seller lists; if you ever glanced at the New York Times’ best seller list for this category, you would see Ms. Hoover’s recent and re-issued novels dominate that list throughout this year, with an average of nine spots filled by her works … and I have a feeling there will be more to come.
So, without further ado, here are my top books of 2022:
Brit Happens by James Mullinger – My choice for book of the year. I have known British comic James Mullinger since 2014, and he always had interesting stories to tell about his life as a struggling comic in his native Britain, a magazine editor, movie reviewer and a celebrity interviewer. When he moved to New Brunswick, it was indeed quite an example of taking a professional risk; however, through ingenuity, dedication and sheer guts, Mullinger has carved out a successful career as a stand-up comedian in Canada, co-started a quarterly magazine with his wife Pam (which is now in its fifth year of publication), and almost single-handedly revived the comedy scene throughout the Maritimes. His memoir is a highly readable package that tells his whole story with a great deal of humour and courage, and how his goal of living the Canadian dream has become a satisfying realization.
The Betrayal of Anne Frank by Rosemary Sullivan – To mark the 75th anniversary of the publication of Anne Frank’s diary that she wrote while hiding from the Nazis in her hometown of Amsterdam, author Rosemary Sullivan put out a book that through diligent investigating and research, finally reveals the person who betrayed Frank and her family that ended up with their capture and deportation to Auschwitz in 1944 (only her father Otto Frank emerged as a survivor). Reading like a combination of a fascinating history book and an episode of CSI, we finally get a sense of closure to what happened to Anne and her family (the revelation is surprising and infuriating). It’s quite a cathartic experience.
Like A Rolling Stone by Jann S. Wenner – For 55 years, Rolling Stone has become the bible of the rock music world and a vanguard of the new journalism genre. Jann S. Wenner, the man who created the magazine, gives his rock ‘n’ roll, drug and alcohol-fuelled story behind this monumental publication in this memoir. What is so enjoyable about it is not only Wenner’s cornucopia of celebrity encounters – from rock stars to U.S. Presidents – but also the difficult, controversial editorial decisions that has made Rolling Stone not your average rock music fanzine, but an influential publication for the baby boomer generation and beyond.
James Patterson: The Stories of My Life by James Patterson and Run Rose Run by James Patterson and Dolly Parton – Could mega-bestselling author James Patterson succeed with a book that told a story which didn’t involve crime, investigations and law enforcement, but instead approached a more personal angle: his own life story? With the release of James Patterson: The Stories of My Life, the answer was one, loud, enthusiastic “Yes!”. This collection of bite-sized autobiographical stories chronicles Patterson’s roller-coaster life as a writer, from working night shifts at a psychiatric hospital to running one of the most influential advertising agencies in New York. He also offers fascinating insights about the publishing industry from the writer’s point-of-view.
As an added bonus, I included Patterson’s latest literary celebrity collaboration – this time, he teamed up with country music superstar Dolly Parton – called Run Rose Run. It’s an inside look at the country music world from its home base in Nashville, as seen through the eyes of an ambitious musician singer/songwriter with a dark past, who wants to obtain stardom in country music, albeit reluctantly. The book, which is quite an enjoyable read, also contains lyrics by Ms. Parton to the songs from an album she recorded that was inspired by Run Rose Run.
Tracy Flick Can’t Win by Tom Perrotta – In a world of literary sequels that tries to continue the story of a best-selling-novel-turned-hit-movie (but falls flat), Tom Perrotta’s sequel to his novel Election, which became a critically-acclaimed film over 20 years ago that starred Reese Witherspoon and Matthew Broderick, thankfully bubbles over. This time, Tracy is a vice-principal at a New Jersey high school who has had her share of personal and professional disappointments since that controversial student council presidential election, and hopes to redeem herself when she becomes the leading candidate to succeed the retiring principal. Tracy is put into a sympathetic mode and the reader shares that feeling quite well. This is definitely not a half-assed attempt to capitalize on the success of the film version of the original novel. And speaking of film versions, it was recently announced that a big screen version of Tracy Flick Can’t Win is in the works, with Reese Witherspoon reprising the role of Tracy.
The Mother of All Degrassi by Linda Schuyler – For those who grew up in the 80s, 90s and 2000s watching the different iterations of the Degrassi TV franchise as a regular pre-teen and teen viewing habit – or as a guilty pleasure – creator Linda Schuyler’s memoir is quite the revelation. From a Toronto school teacher who wanted to make a difference for her students with very little resources and budget, to the creative force behind one of the most successful TV franchises to come out of Canada, Schuyler gives Degrassi fans a detailed, behind-the-scenes chronicle of how life at a fictional inner-city school struck a realistic, responsive chord with young viewers around the world, and made stars of its young cast, especially Aubrey Graham, who evolved from his role as Jimmy in The Next Generation series to worldwide fame as the rapper Drake.
The New York Times Book Review: 125 Years of Literary History – For book worms everywhere, the New York Times Book Review was – and still is – their Sunday habit as to what books were on its iconic best seller lists, and what its stable of reviewers thought of the latest releases that has hit the bookstores. To mark its 125th anniversary, a coffee table book was released as a marvelous treasury of what made the Book Review such an influential literary journal, from its early features (like “At Home”, which celebrated authors like Arthur Conan Doyle gave readers a peek at their home life), to its many reviews – both good and bad — of some of the books that have become classics and deserved special places in the bookshelves of millions of bibliophiles.
Hollywood Ending by Ken Auletta – Recently, former movie mogul Harvey Weinstein was found guilty on three charges of rape in Los Angeles. The story of Weinstein’s meteoric rise – and very hard fall – in the movie industry was a sordid “bite you back in the ass” story that led to the rise of the MeToo movement, and the just as hard fall of many major personalities in the media, entertainment and political worlds. Auletta, a highly regarded media and business journalist, offers a detailed story of how Harvey and Bob Weinstein transcended a love of movies into a business that first distributed high end movies to mainstream audiences, and then became a multi-award winning movie production empire that took Hollywood by storm during the 1990s. As well, Auletta reveals Harvey’s ego-driven modus operandi that propelled his meteoric rise and fall (ballistic temper tantrums and sexual harassment included). The end result is a repugnant, yet fascinating book that will make you sick to your stomach, quite angry and highly aware of how not to run a successful business, no matter what kind of business it is.
Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life by James Curtis – Buster Keaton is probably one of the greatest unsung heroes of movie comedy, silent movie comedy in particular. Although he produced and starred in such classics as Sherlock, Junior, The Navigator, The Cameraman, and The General, Keaton had to play second fiddle to his contemporary Charlie Chaplin, which also meant for most part, Keaton’s films remained forgotten for decades. James Curtis, who gained critical acclaim for his epic biographies of such Hollywood legends as W.C. Fields and Spencer Tracy, gives Keaton his due with another massive biography that gives a thorough look at Keaton both on and off screen, especially his innovative approach to movie comedy that dealt with painstaking attention to details and tremendous, never-seen-before physical gags. The end result is a literary tribute that is sure to expose Buster Keaton’s comic genius to future generations and create a much deserved, yet lasting, appreciation.
Montreal to Moscow by Terry Mosher; The Series by Ken Dryden; Ice War Diplomat by Gary J. Smith – This year marked the 50th anniversary of the historical hockey Summit Series between Canada and Russia, which captured the attention of the entire population of Canada for 27 days that September. The series had Canadian-born all stars from the NHL battle it out on the ice against a team that represented the finest players from the Soviet Union who evolved from a rather harsh system of hockey training and conditioning, in an unofficial war on ice for overall hockey supremacy. Of the numerous books that were published on the subject this year, three of them really stood out. These books tell the story of the Summit Series from three different points-of-view: a journalist who covered the series; a goalie who played for Team Canada; and a diplomat who engineered the series from concept to reality. Read these books one after the other (and in no particular order), and you will get a complete portrait of the “us-versus-them” series that forever changed the game of hockey.
Run Towards Danger by Sarah Polley – In one of the most deep, painful and provocative memoirs since Mary Karr’s The Liars’ Club, Canadian actor/writer/director Sarah Polley reveals in her literary look back her personal pain that she kept hidden for so many years. The stories maybe quite sobering at first glance, but they are powerful testaments to trying to live a normal life and pursue a career in acting while facing so many personal issues could have been potentially damaging. Polley’s chapters about her time performing the lead role in a stage production of Alice Through the Looking-Glass and her ordeal of trying to deal with her being sexually assaulted at the hands of Jian Ghomeshi are powerful, intense looks at a courageous woman on the edge of emotional unraveling.
A Promise of Sweet Tea by Pinchas Eliyahu Blitt – For nearly 20 years, the Azrieli Series of Holocaust Survivor Memoirs have published over 50 books of memoirs by Holocaust survivors who have moved to Canada following World War II. These books are an excellent, yet vitally important, educational tool and permanent eyewitness record of this horribly tragic period in modern history by the survivors, whose numbers, unfortunately, are quickly dwindling due to their advanced age. One of the best volumes in this series was released last year. A Promise of Sweet Tea is Pinchas Eliyahu Blitt’s story of survival in the face of unspeakable horror at the hands of the Nazis. A Jew from Ukraine, Blitt not only survived the Nazi invasion and slaughter of its Jewish population, but also attacks by Russian Cossacks, packs of ravenous wolves and the anti-Semitic taunts by local children whom he once counted as friends. However, the book is also an emotional ode to Kortelisy, the village in western Ukraine where he grew up, and how long standing traditions and books from past generations of his family he was delighted to uphold, and made life in Kortelisy seem like another world, while the rest of the world was caught up in the turbulence of a world war. This sense of tradition gave Blitt a means to survive, as he later left for Canada, where he settled in Montreal and had a successful career as a lawyer, and enjoyed a long tenure as a cast member of the Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre.
Granddad’s Montreal: 1901 by Robert Wilkins – If there ever was someone who knows all the ins and outs of the history of Montreal during the 19th and 20th centuries, it’s Robert Wilkins. And he continued to amaze Montreal history buffs with his third book Granddad’s Montreal: 1901. Wilkins chose that year because his grandfather and grandmother got married in 1901; and 1901 was an interesting year to live in that city, with its major highlight a royal visit by the future King George V (who was known as the Duke of York at that time) and Queen Mary. But thanks to Wilkins’ diligent research through newspaper and city archives, he offered readers a fascinating day-by-day, month-by-month portrait of a large Canadian city that was a major North American hub of business and commerce, but at the same time, was tainted with grinding poverty, crime, disease and a sky high infant mortality rate.
From Saturday Night to Sunday Night by Dick Ebersol – To put it simply, Dick Ebersol is a TV broadcasting legend. In what he describes as his dream job, he entered the world of TV sports with ABC as an Olympic researcher, helped to develop Saturday Night Live with Lorne Michaels, and as President of NBC Sports, brought not only the NBA and the Olympics to the network, but also changed the way we watched the NFL with Sunday Night Football and Football Night in America (which still tops the ratings). His memoir covers all this ground, especially how he engineered these monumental broadcast rights deals, which practically resembles shuttle diplomacy. And like any memoir, there is a personal side to Ebersol’s story, too; the portion that deals with the 2004 plane crash in Colorado that seriously injured him and took the life of his teenage son Teddy is both heartbreaking and an inspiring story of personal courage through a very painful time, both physically and emotionally.
And that takes care of 2022. Have a great page-turning 2023.
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