Best Laid Plans (Bloomfield series Book 4)

While I will say that I appreciated Angus McClintock as a character and reluctant hero, and found his personal communications with his dearly departed wife touching, overall I found this a bit of a task to finish. Hopefully Fallis' next book fares better. Mar 20, Dubi Kanengisser rated it did not like it Shelves: The blurb on the back on the book described how no literary agent wanted to publish this book, but the author managed to secure the adoration of the public nonetheless. Well, count me on the side of the literary agents for this one. Of course, the back of the book also insisted this book was humourous, and 50 pages into the book I have still not seen any evidence of that.

I did see ample evidence that the author or at least the narrator is full of himself, is unbearably verbose, and couldn't te The blurb on the back on the book described how no literary agent wanted to publish this book, but the author managed to secure the adoration of the public nonetheless. I did see ample evidence that the author or at least the narrator is full of himself, is unbearably verbose, and couldn't tell the wheat from the chaff in the chaff was coloured in bright colours and made to dance the macarena.

All of which to say that this book has the questionable honour of being on the very short list of books I didn't even bother reading to the end. One day with this book was more than enough for me. If it gets better later -- well, frankly, I still don't think it's worth plodding through all this drivel. How this won any sort of award short of bribing the judges is beyond me. Jan 18, Nicole Yovanoff rated it did not like it. It was a gift, so I read it and regretted it ever since. The worst political jokes ever make up are found in this book. It made me cringe at every turn.

The main character is in his mid-twenties, but its written as though the man was in his forties or fifties. Not to mention that the storyline was lame and predictable. This book is so bad that I thought the publishing company must of lost a bet and was forced to pub It was a gift, so I read it and regretted it ever since. This book is so bad that I thought the publishing company must of lost a bet and was forced to publish it. Either that or the guy who wrote it was well connected and the company felt obliged to publish it. How this book got awards is beyond me. Clearly they do not know what is funny or good story telling.

Jun 13, Allison rated it liked it Shelves: Extremely silly on so, so many levels. If you simply need a mental vacation, this could be it. Jun 21, 1. This book was recommended to me with some praise, but when I saw the premise and source my enthusiasm shrank a bit. Political satire about Canadian politics? Winner of the 'Stephen Leacock Award for Humour'? I've read Sunshine Sketches so I feel I'm qualified to make that completely unfounded judgment.

However the publication of this book is defini This book was recommended to me with some praise, but when I saw the premise and source my enthusiasm shrank a bit. However the publication of this book is definitely a 'good story' though I can see why agents and publishers would pass on it.

It's, to be gentle, a pretty bland book. It makes the CBC seem exciting and dynamic. The characterizations are so safe, the strife is so one-dimensional, the jokes with a few brilliant exceptions are barely chuckle-worthy. To my mind, at least, the book is a perfect product of the Liberal, political mindset that generated it. It's so cautious it's often toothless.

It's super upper-middle class in its biases true or not and spews out globalist exceptionalism why should a first world country make shoes when it can outsource legacy industry to veritable slaves in the third world? It managed to be ageist in spite of itself — Fallis depicts Pete1 and Pete2 as two 'alarming' 'anarchist' punks dwelling in, from the book itself, a 'punkhouse' who for some reason work for his protagonist and the liberals, meanwhile he depicts an elderly lady in a positive light.

Conservatives are rapacious and deceitful antagonists, but to be fair the Liberals are painted as opportunists and cynics as well.

The NDP is portrayed with the sort of verve seasoned authors employ to describe toasted bread. The Scotch protagonist Angus McLintock is portrayed as a sort of impossible saint with mostly cantankerous and charming character shortfalls. You can tell the man who wrote this knows a thing or two about politics. I'll grant the book that. It's also a perfect example of an agenda, and though it tries to posit that duty and sound policy can co-exist with contemporary politics, mostly it just serves to prove the opposite.

The plot is standard feel-good Canadiana. Much of the dialogue is tone-deaf. The grammar pedantry the author surrogate brags about didn't prevent a misplaced comma from reaching publication. All the characters are white except for one guy, ostensibly, in Papua New Guinea and boring and vanilla flavored, even the punk Petes, who are given about one-billionth of a normal human personality.

Even the main character has nothing defining him but his employment history, his education, and his political views. There are generalizations and simplifications every time reality threatens the idealistic narrative, but it's a broad satire and definitely a bit of a fantasy as well, so mostly it's forgivable. All of which form a book that so perfectly encapsulates the modern political hellscape that I cannot in good conscience rate it poorly.

This should be taught in schools. It might be unintentional, but the author paints a bleak picture of the future, of politics, and of Canada in general. For some reason probably due to post-secondary education, author-surrogacy, and political views the main character meets and enters into a relationship with a younger woman.

Despite neither of them really having anything to say. The case is overstated. The only real character in the book is reserved for Angus McLintock, and he often becomes a 'character' in the quote-worthy sense. There are certainly positives. The plot has legs. You will finish the book in a reasonable amount of time and it will not tax your mind too much.

It's got some good parts, and some decent insights. It is not written by a robot though I'd love to see a Conservative version of this same book, it would be a good laugh. It's a bit stilted and awkward here and there, but probably you won't find the same kind of deep-level problems I did with it. Odds are, if you can place yourself on the political spectrum, you'll get a decent kick out of this book. It is, if nothing else, contemporary enough. Other reviewers probably summarized the best parts, so I'm free. To be honest I would've given this a 2.

I liked it but not always, and in general I felt contemptuous about it. Oct 29, An Odd1 rated it it was amazing Shelves: On Feb CBC-TV mini-series conclusion, kilt marches down federal halls of power, force meets immovable, bodes well for sequel. Terry Fallis, experienced in engineering and public relations, penned a podcast that grew. Humor meets honor, "passion for proper English" conquer the compromised democracy of Canadian politics. At first, apparently autobiographical, disillusioned heartbroken Ottawa political aide Daniel retires to teach university English.

To fulfill his last job commitment, he asks his brilliant eccentric new landlord to be the local electoral candidate.

Every night, engineer professor Angus, 60, Einstein-hair, food-filled beard, builds a hovercraft. He mourns his "deep abyss" aloud, in a warm Scottish burr, converses with his one-year-departed famous-feminist wife Marin. Muriel 80 "gives great voice" or swears like a "sailor", helped Prime Minister Mackenzie King, now matchmakes her bright pretty granddaughter. Two pierced punk rocker undergrad Petes canvass scare voters. To boldly go" "As Canadians' respect for democracy declines and their disdain grows, we tend to abandon the greater good, follow the politicians' lead, and grab what we can for ourselves I'm not sure how appealing this book will be to anyone who does not know Canada, Canadians or the Canadian political scene but I found it hilarious.

With a funny euphemism laced sex scene, for example: Let's just say she was rather enthusiastically lobbying his caucus. I contend that English is already an extraordinarily difficult language to teach Feb 03, Jenn rated it it was amazing Shelves: I adore this novel! Admittedly, I do have a bit of a predisposition towards Canadian politics, but whether or not that is true for all readers should not influence enjoyment of The Best Laid Plans.

Fallis is an impressive writer, who employs humour and heart in equal measure, resulting in a story with a snappy pace, rich characters, and a stirring plot. I was especially taken with Fallis' inclusion of a letter from one character to his deceased partner at the end of each chapter, adding a second I adore this novel!

I was especially taken with Fallis' inclusion of a letter from one character to his deceased partner at the end of each chapter, adding a second narrator to our story as well as introducing some of the most affecting points of the novel that we would not achieve while following only our primary narrator. This book also hit two other sweet spots for me: So pleased that Plans was nominated for Canada Reads, otherwise I do not believe I would have discovered it and given it a chance.

Jun 23, Krista rated it it was ok Shelves: As the author couldn't find a publisher, he released this book chapter by chapter via podcast, found an audience, eventually won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour, and it was named the Canada Reads title.

That's a lot to recommend this book -- it's funny, set behind the scenes in Ottawa, and everyone in Canada should be reading it according to our cultural overlords at the CBC -- but this seems like the kind of book a reader will either love or hate. And I didn't love it. There's a long stretch in the Prologue that uses Parliamentary double-entendres to describe the narrator's horror at discovering his girlfriend and her politician boss getting it on in his Centre Block office.

This part was truly clever and funny and I thought I'd be in for a fun ride and I was delighted by just how wonderfully Canadian it all was , but nearly immediately, the funny dried up -- unless one finds numerous fart jokes to be the zenith of humour: An Oppenheimer blast of flatulence literally blew me out of my poetic reverie. Just as no two snowflakes were identical, each McLintock fart, among millions, was unique. Most of the characters with the exception of the interesting Angus McLintock are one-dimensional, don't speak or act like real people, and have unclear motivations and, no, I don't forgive a stupid scene with a blusteringly evil American businessman because the narrator thinks, "This guy was nothing but a caricature".

As an English professor, the narrator has some of the most stilted thoughts ever and the following is him falling in love with a conveniently gorgeous, smart, and available young woman who happens to agree with him that a Triple-E Senate would be a bad idea: I didn't really care what we talked about, but our discussion seemed to migrate to semiserious subjects that required the coordinated firing of synapses in the brain to sustain the kind of positive impression for which I was aiming. And if one English professor's thoughts are annoying, imagine the fun when two get together and start talking: None literally means not one , so the verb is singular.

I hustled up the white stone stairs to the Members' gallery, flaying myself for a grammar error I was forever correcting in others. And he's not kidding about forever correcting grammatical errors -- both of these characters do it constantly throughout the book, which is just as annoying as hanging out with people who do it in real life. Oh Professor McLintock, you say that "to boldly go" is one of the most famous split infinitives in modern culture? Happily, I enjoyed some schadenfreude at this: I did love how unabashedly Canadian The Best Laid Plans is and wish more fiction was set in the halls of Parliament -- if nothing else, this book proves that people are interested in the subject -- and while I can appreciate that a narrator who works for the Liberal Party is going to have some partisan ideas, an author risks turning off half his potential readership with comments like these: Historically, Tory Throne Speeches and budgets have rewarded the rich by cutting taxes, liberated big business by eviscerating regulatory oversight, despoiled the environment by gutting legislated standards and enforcement, and shredded the social contract with those living in poverty.

At least that's my detached and disinterested analysis. And just factually this book had me scratching my head: That a very powerful, unmarried, formerly squeaky-clean politician would flee the country because he was caught leaving his love nest? And I'm not surprised that the author has a degree in Engineering -- although there are quite a few self-aware jokes in this book about how Engineers aren't artists, Fallis isn't truly an artist himself: Feb 11, London Mabel rated it it was ok Recommends it for: I liked the characters, I was interested in the politics, it was a pleasant read, but man it was badly written.

What are the chances of two English-language-usage-obsessed people meeting each other? It would have been charming for the narrator to have this obsession, or the protagonist Angus. In the end it seemed preach My short review: In the end it seemed preachy. He's terrible at describing settings and people. In a humor novel long descriptions just invite you to pass over them, unless you're very very brilliant.

The Best Laid Plans

Otherwise a few well chosen words is funnier. Our hero Angus had no failings. He had one small plan go awry, but everything else he did went over brilliantly. Really, there was no suspense to the book at all. No bad guy, no antagonist, no goal, nothing to strive for, no tension. The book just wandered along until a sudden mild spike in tension in the last chapter. It looks like the sequel has an antagonist, so it might actually be better. The first few chapters of the book could have been cut, they added almost nothing to the book.

I would have given up if I hadn't listened to the Canada Reads debates, and been spurred on by Ali Velshi's excited descriptions of Angus. I spent the whole beginning of the book just waiting waiting waiting for Angus to get elected. The character of Muriel is so prominent in the beginning chapters of the book, and then becomes a ghost once Angus is elected.

You could have completely removed her from the book, it would hardly have affected the plot. You could have removed the narrator's romantic interest from the book and it would hardly have affected the plot. I hesitate to call her a romantic interest. She was there, she and the narrator fell in love in about two seconds.

There was no romantic tension, it wasn't drawn out at all, there was no fun love story to keep the reader hooked, no fun subplot to jolly me along. Fallis didn't know how to build up the right kind of tension, so as to surprise me with the Angus Moments. I never had that edge of the seat 'Oh my God no no no -- he's gonna do it! I always knew Angus would do the outrageous thing, so it wasn't suspenseful, which made it less funny.

Pete 1 and Pete2 were amusing, but Fallis never did anything really funny with them. The finale would have been funnier if we witnessed it in first person, rather than hearing it after the fact. Except for having no faults, Angus was a great character.

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Everyone else was likable. I wanted to see them win. I was interested in seeing how a Canadian political campaign works, and then how daily government works. So I enjoyed the setting and the insider knowledge. It was a quick read, and I always returned willingly to the book. I'd be temped to give it three stars just because I didn't find it an onerous read. But in the end I just don't think I can. If I hadn't heard it defended on Canada Reads, I don't know if I would have made it past the first few chapters.

Oct 16, M. After a crisis of faith in the political process and a betrayal in his personal life, young speechwriter and political staffer Daniel Addison quits his job with the Liberal opposition party on the eve of an election. He is convinced to do one last job for the party: Events soon take over and an unlikely candidate becomes the absentee figurehead of a most unlikely campaign that is inadvertently thrust into the national stage. The book can be easily divided into two parts. The events throughout are telegraphed in large letters with no gun on the mantlepiece left unfired by the end.

The book begins to hit its stride once the writ is dropped, having floundered a bit as it attempts to get its pieces into place, but feels rushed once the election itself is finished. It all seems a short story about an election going wrong right that was padded out into a novel.

This is especially evident in the beginning of the book as we are introduced to all the characters with whom we are meant to feel some attachment: Similarly, the rest of the book is filled with amoral idiots though the way the author decides to underline the intellectual superiority of his two protagonists--grammatical pedantry--seems also a questionable choice. As the author writes the story fairly straight and the plot is fairly light and the situations not inherently funny enough in general to sustain the book, the characters would have been the been the best hope for this book, but the characters end up doing little more than fitting into assigned specific roles e.

Overall, the book is a disappointment, despite some enjoyable moments concentrated primarily during the election. It is too superficial and lacks sufficient edge to make it truly memorable and not funny or well-written enough to make up for its flaws. Mar 20, Anie rated it it was ok. This is a novel about an employee of a Canadian political party Liberal who decides to change careers and, for reasons that aren't at all clear, must fullfill a final duty before moving on to his new job as a professor at the University of Ottawa.

He must find a candidate to run in a riding near Ottawa which the Conservative party has held forever, and the incumbent is a popular Minister of Finance. The story unfolds predictably - a loveable but bright recently widowed curmudgeon agrees to run This is a novel about an employee of a Canadian political party Liberal who decides to change careers and, for reasons that aren't at all clear, must fullfill a final duty before moving on to his new job as a professor at the University of Ottawa.

The story unfolds predictably - a loveable but bright recently widowed curmudgeon agrees to run providing in exchange for the hack teaching his course on English to first year engineering students, because of course he cannot win. The incumbent suffers an embarassing public exposure of his sexual proclivities, the electorate turn on him and the curmudgeon is elected. The procrastinator returns to Parliament Hill to work for the new member, and of course he falls in love.

It was pleasant to read a story that is set in a familiar locale, but the stereotypes in this book are so blatant that the book became a bore. Polticians are nincompoops who could not get through their days without the assistance of the paid party staff Engineering students - and apparently engineers - are culturally deficient Conservatives bad, Liberals good Voters are just plain dumb, completely unable to decipher the complexities of even basic economics.

The writers total contempt for the unwashed masses was so blatant that it made the book a nuisance that I felt compelled to finish. The finish was so predictable that I could have just skipped from midway to the last page and not really missed anything. Strangely, though, what rings most in my mind the day after finishing this book are two glaring factual problems: Why would anyone looking for shelter in a winter snowstorm in Ottawa walk down Elgin Street past the Lord Elgin hotel to get to the Chateau?

That is the coldest and windiest area of Ottawa.

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Any simpleton would surely stop at the Lord Elgin. No matter how powerful the motor, there is simply no way a hydrofoil could travel from any suburban riding down the Ottawa River to the Parliament Buildings in the time set out in the book. And no normal person, particularly an apparently elderly gentleman, could scramble up the hill to the Parliament Buildings from the canal in the time set out in the book. Neither activity added to the plot, so why weren't they corrected by the editors? Mar 05, Ubalstecha rated it really liked it Shelves: Daniel Addison is not having a good time of life.

A speech writer for the Liberal leader, Daniel is burnt out and embittered after years of working on Parliament Hill. The final straw is when Daniel stumbles across his girlfriend engaged in sexual relations with the Liberal House Leader. In a series of events that can only happen in a novel, Daniel quits his job, finds a tenure track one teaching English at the University of Ottawa and moves out to Cumberland to live above a boat house.

The only Daniel Addison is not having a good time of life. The only catch is that Daniel has to find a candidate to run for Liberals in the riding of in Cumberland.

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Not an easy feat given that the current representative is the hugely popular Conservative Finance Minister in a riding that hasn't elected a Liberal in over a hundred years. Luckily for Daniel, his landlord is an Engineering Professor at the University of Ottawa who has been assigned English for Engineers, a course he thought he had seen the back of. A quick, presto, chango, literary plot device, and Daniel is now teaching English for Engineers and Angus, his landlord, is the Liberal candidate for Cumberland.

No one, least of all Daniel, thinks they have a hope of winning, that is until an unforeseen event happens, and Angus finds himself the Liberal Member of Parliament for Cumberland. Can Danielhelp Angus, a self-admitted iconoclast, navigate through the murky waters of Canadian politics? This book is a hero of the self-publishing movement. Author Fallis could not find anyone to publish his book, so he recorded as a chapter by chapter podcast.

Best Laid Plans (Bloomfield #4) by Martha Rogers

People loved the book and he developed a huge following. The book then won the Stephen Leacock award for humour. It then one Canada reads, making it an instant best seller. The book requires a significant suspension of disbelief for the plot to work but once you move past that, it becomes a fun ride. Rich characters and zany situations make this a worthwhile book. Oct 04, Dave Tolnai rated it it was ok.

This makes Todd Davis, Jan's father, introduce her to one of his friends, who owns a newspaper. A brief introduction followed by marriage sees Leslie manage her husband's empire. With his falling health and subsequent death, Leslie becomes the sole owner of his properties. In spite of all the other businesses, Leslie takes an immense liking for the media empire, with which she intends to destroy Oliver. During this part, Dana Evans, who stars in Sheldon's other novel Sky Is Falling , appears as an inquisitive reporter who adopts a boy from war torn Sarajevo.

In the meantime, Oliver becomes the president, but during his first term there occur a series of deaths, all due to toxicity of Liquid Ecstasy, a dangerous aphrodisiac that Leslie connects to him. When she is convinced it is Oliver who is behind these murders, she goes on to publish the news of his arrest before it is confirmed. Dana Evans then unmasks the real culprit, Peter Tager, while the president reveals a shocking secret that he was with the wife of an Italian ambassador, Sylva.

The book ends with the proposal of a peace pact, brokered by President Russell, among the Arab nations, while Leslie is left wondering if she has gone a bit too far. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.