Here Be Dragons: Telling Tales Of People, Passion and Power [Englisch] [Taschenbuch]

Darcy Rezac: Author, Frog and Prince Secrets (Vancouver) - See all my reviews

I picked up Peter C's new book on Friday and couldn't put it down
until the wee hours of Monday morning. The master raconteur has
turned out a literary prize full of anecdotes, scintillating stories and
rich Canadian history. Peter has met and written about everybody
newsworthy in the country over a lifetime filled with danger, drama,
self-deprecating humour, lust and love. Conrad Black and Barbara
will not be happy campers...but they will be in good company. Peter
tells all!

Biographies are usually dull, because they implicitly brag about the achievements of the rich and powerful and famous and glamorous rather than dealing with a topic that's really important and interesting -- ME !

This book is an exception to the rule.

It's a fascinating story of a once super-privileged Jewish boy whose family escaped pre-war Czechoslovakia because a Roman Catholic priest gave them certificates to slip past the Holocaust. Being Catholics enabled his family to emigrate to Canada, where he became the leading political analyst in newspapers, magazines and books. Like many immigrants, he is more Canadian than most people born in the country; the result is a book written with humour, kindness and a sense of shattering disappointment and disillusion.

Political journalism is a slash-and-burn war in the US, anchored by the pure hatred of right-wing zealots such as Rush Limbaugh and his ilk; or the pompous twits who debate whether dissent to erudite liberal wisdom ranks above or below the grunts of orangutans. In Canada, journalism proves "the emperor has no clothes" by laughing at the foibles, faults, fears and follies of politicians. Newman is a 'Mack the Knife' artist, he doesn't use the blunt force trauma of a California Terminator. Newman wielded the best scalpel in Canadian journalism for decades, and he did so with such skill that his victims never felt obliged to drop him from their Christmas card list. In this book, he provides the delicious details of how it was done,.

But it's much more.

Think of Newman as an intelligent Garrison Keillor, who talks for 20-minutes every week about the inanities of ordinary folks in Lake Woebegone. Newman tells even better stories about the motivations of the rich and powerful leaders of America's largest trading partner (the single largest source of foreign oil, for example). Newman's harshest criticism is of his own shortcomings, not the faults of the unworthy villains writhing on the point of his pen. But he also portrays the absolute perfidy of some Canadian politicians, the devils who make any US president look saintly by comparison. It's the approach many wish they could have used against newman 40 years ago.

A few years ago, Newman visited the Theresienstadt concentration camp where most of his relatives died. He also saw10 names the same as his -- Peta Neumann -- ranging in age from 10 months to 10 years. This is what he escaped in a series of events that would put the film world to shame. But this is not another Holocaust book; it is a story of a life that soared to greatness when nourished by the freedom of Canada. Instead of the "scorched earth" journalism of the US which I favoured, he used humour to puncture the hubris of the high and haughty. In the US, humour is often acerbic. Newman embodies the definition by Stephen Leacock, "the essence of humour is human kindliness", but he accompanies it all with his penetrating analysis of Canadian politics.

To understand the soul of Canada today, this is the prime guidebook.

It's written by a man who knows how to love; a combination of pure exhilaration and crushing despair that creates true passion. Instead of the polls and poltroons of modern politics, Newman's focus is on the feelings and meanings of public service. I've known him since the 1970s, and we've been in the like sport for decades, though I've never worked with or for him (he does quote me briefly in the book). Based on my career, I can honestly say this is the book of a master craftsman gifted with a rare insight, sensitivity and acumen.

It's liable to infuriate many Canadians, who tend to be very sensitive about having their political idols described as emperors without clothes. For that reason, it's probably the best book about Canada written within the last 50 years. Newman reflects the finest principle of honest journalism, "Comfort the afflicted, afflict the comfortable".

I lived in Toronto through the era that Newman covers in this marvelous book. For the past 15 years though I've been a resident of Los Angeles and this book feels like a homecoming! Here Be Dragons not only brings back fond memories but delivers an educational punch that I never expected. The Newman style of writing is that compelling blend of novel meets investigative journalism and it's damn difficult to put down. I'd recommend this book for the excellent read that it is, but I'd also suggest that history and journalism students give this book serious consideration. This is a "best of kind" experience.
Ron Davis