A politician’s reading list: my unsolicited recommendations
A professor once told me that you can learn a lot about people by the books they read. I’d argue that you can learn even more about people by the books they recommend for others to read.
That’s probably why I found this article in the New York Times so fascinating: earlier this month, the Book Review asked a handful of writers to recommend books for the presidential candidates. Their recommendations are varied and extensive, but provide a much deeper insight into the writer’s mind rather than the politician’s sensitivities.
I decided to take a stab at making some recommendations myself, but instead of targeting my suggestions to presidential candidates, I thought it might be more fun to try and recommend books for the current leaders of the major Canadian political parties.
(Apologies to my international readers, but hopefully you’ll still learn something about me through this exercise, if not about the political scene in Canada.)
Stephen Harper
Leader of the Conservative party and current Prime Minister of Canada, Harper is a right-wing politician and avid hockey fan, but hasn’t really been known to be very progressive on environmental issues. My first recommendation for him would be Alan Weisman’s The World Without Us, which is a book that demonstrates our impact on the world through captivating scenarios.
Harper’s government also seems to be very scared of sexuality, trying to restrict rights for same-sex relationships and raising the age of consent in the country. My second recommendation for him would be Judith Levine’s Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex, a book that explores how the best way of raising a generation of sexually-responsible young people is by giving them education.
Stéphane Dion
Dion is an unlikely leader of the Liberal party, particularly since he was competing against heavyweights like Ignatieff, Rae, and Kennedy for the position. Even now, as leader of the opposition, Dion does not seem to be at ease in his role.
Because of his seeming apprehensiveness and because of his inability to portray himself as a great leader even within his party, I have a recommendation for Stéphane Dion that is not my own. A coworker of mine has done a lot of reading about leadership and management, and one of the books he recommends is Shackleton’s Way. The book details how Ernest Shackleton’s leadership saved the lives of twenty-seven men stranded with him in the Antarctic for almost two years.
Jack Layton
Of all the party leaders, I know Jack the best. After all, he has been living in Toronto for over 30 years and he is definitely a pro-big-city kind of politician. When I reflect on reading I would recommend for Jack, the first thing that comes to mind is Jane Jacob’s The Death and Life of Great American Cities, but I know he’s read that already. He’s a fan of cycling, so Paul Kimmage’s Rough Ride makes sense to recommend, but I have a feeling he’s already got through that too.
Time to start thinking out of the box.
Jack’s always playing second-best when it comes to Canadian politics. The Liberals and Conservatives have turned the political scene into essentially a two-party contest, so the NDP — despite holding the balance of power — always looks like the little kid trying to play with the big boys. Jack’s a perennial underdog, so for him, I recommend Joshua Davis’ The Underdog, where the author participates in competitions that are way over his head — and thrives.
Added Recommendations
I have one strong recommendation to make for all three political leaders — and, in fact, to everyone that reads this blog at all — and that is Where Hope Takes Root: Democracy and Pluralism in an Interdependent World by His Highness the Aga Khan. This collection of talks (with a forward by Adrienne Clarkson) is the perfect starting point for any discussion on civil society and democracy and their roles in shaping a better future.
I threw the question out on Twitter earlier today. Thomas Purves came back with some great suggestions for all three:
Code and laws of cyberspase by Lessig. Herodotus for the long perspective. Harrison Bergeron by vonnegut. and dawkins just in case
Mike Rotenberg made a simple but very apt suggestion:
“The Internet for Dummies” http://tinyurl.com/yx8qyw
Ryan LaFlamme brought a recommendation that is extremely pertinent to our country:
Why I hate Canadians or How to be a Canadian by Will Ferguson
So what about you? If you could build the reading lists for Stephen Harper, Stéphane Dion, and Jack Layton, what would you include?