Rick Mercer Report: The Paperback Book

by Rick Mercer

Paperback, 2008

Status

Available

Call number

971.0720207

Collection

Publication

Anchor Canada (2008), Paperback, 320 pages

Description

Essays. Politics. Nonfiction. Humor (Nonfiction.) HTML: An all-new collection of furiously funny rants from the most recent seasons of the Rick Mercer Report plus three brilliantly written, previously unpublished pieces by Rick. Illustrated throughout with photos and snatches of dialogue from Rick??s encounters and exploits across Canada.   ??[Mercer??s] trademark one-camera rants against the Canadian parliamentary machine are more concise, and more believable, than any campaign ads.? ??The Globe and Mail   ??The comedian of choice for viewers who read.? ??Toronto Life   ??Canada??s hottest TV comic.? ??Maclean??s   "Week after week, Mercer continues to delight with his alternately giddy and cutting political humour.? ??The Canadian Press   ??Canada??s leading political satirist.? ??The New York Times     ??A good rant is cathartic. Ranting is what keeps me sane. They always come from a different place. Take the prime minister, for example. Sometimes when I rant about him, I am angry; other times, I am just severely annoyed??it??s an important distinction.? ??Rick Mercer, from his introduction   Within these pages you??ll find every rant that Rick has so brilliantly and blisteringly delivered since the publication of his previous bestseller, Rick Mercer Report: The Book. Together these rants form a chronicle of human folly, mostly featuring politicians, of course, but with honorable mentions going to people who don??t know how to use escalators and Canadian drivers who don??t think they need snow tires.    Is Mercer getting better or are the fools among us getting worse? Whatever the inspiration??Rick Mercer??s ranting has never been stronger or more on target.    There is a loud, cathartic laugh to be found on almost every page here??with the exception of Rick??s impassioned rant on bullying in schools, words that touched thousands of Canadians, went viral and helped widen the debate on a major problem. Also reprinted here is the rant encouraging students to vote, which resulted directly in a campus ballot and outrage in Ottawa.  (People still are still standing on the left on escalators, and the prime minister is still very much the man he was, but you can??t win them all.)   In addition, Rick has authored three new essays specially for this book: the hilarious behind-the-scenes story of his meeting with Rick Hansen, a hero who absolutely was not a disappointment in real life; a heartfelt reflection on public reaction to his bullying rant; and an account of his response??mystified, followed by delighted??to the news that he??d inspired a ??vote mob.?   Illustrated throughout with photographs and dialogue from Rick??s travels across Canada, A Nation Worth Ranting About will make you proud, will… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member mountie9
The Good Stuff

The chapter on Rich Hanson is worth the price of the book alone
Self-deprecating, honest and extremely wise
Makes me want to go and vote
Was constantly laughing, nodding my head in agreement and on quite a few occasions there may have been snorting laughter (sorry Chapters
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co-workers in lunch room that day)
loved it so much I made it my staff pick at work
The chapter on proper escalator and elevator etiquette should be a must read for anyone over the age of 5 (Hmm wonder if he could writer a chapter on proper uses of hole punches and staplers for kids in College and University)
No one is safe from his rants but they are never meant to harm
His love of Canada - warts and all - is so very apparent
He is willing to try anything
Very touching and open for a man who likes to guard his private life & the reason why he opened up is heart breaking (As I mentioned on many, many occasions some people are straight and some people are gay -- get over it - it is none of your business)
As a Canadian it is your duty to read this -get thee to your local Chapters/Indigo (and tell them JR from Shawnessy sent you - LOL!) as fast as you can - you will not be disappointed

The Not So Good Stuff

Wanted it to be longer
Do you know how incredibly hard it is to only pick 3 quotes from this

Favorite Quotes/Passages



"I pledged then and there that someday, come hell or high water, I would be a member of that program - I too would be an astronaut. When I proudly announced my ambition to the class, Miss Barnes said, "Not with your math marks, buster," and my dream fell to earth." A greater man than I would have ignored those comments, studied hard, excelled at mathematics and science and made it into the space program, but I am not that kind of man. More likely, I spotted something shiny and became distracted."

"This is what I want to know. How can a guy be smart enough to have a job that lets him drive a $59,000 car and be stupid enough to say he doesn't need snow tires when he's standing next to his Audi that's wrapped around a pole? This is Canada. There's no such thing as all-season tires, just like there's no such thing as all-season footwear."



"Being a political junkie in this country is a bit like being a diehard Leafs fan. Year in and year out, they believe they will witness magnificence and magic, and year in and year out, they witness the opposite. But still they continue to show up, cheer, pay through the nose for a hot dog and leave in tears."



"So if you're gay and you're in public life, I'm sorry you don't have to run around with a pride flag and bore the hell out of everyone, but you can't be invisible either. Not anymore. Three hundred kids is three hundred too many." (in regards to in Canada 300 kids take their own life each year)

Who Should/Shouldn't Read

Every Canadian (even those who have no knowledge or interest in politics)
Americans - from this they will get to know us a little better

4.95/5 Dewey's



I received this from Random House in exchange for an honest review
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LibraryThing member AJBraithwaite
OK, embarrassing confession to begin with: I didn't really know who Rick Mercer was before I read this book. I'd heard his name, for sure, but I'm not much of a TV watcher (how d'you think I read so many books?!) so I don't think I've ever actually seen him or any of his shows.

Having said that, I
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now feel I know the guy quite well. He's passionate about Canada, really really anti Stephen Harper's Conservative government and strongly supportive of youngsters who are struggling with bullying, particularly those who are gay. He's also pretty funny.

I enjoyed his book. It's amusing, with several lines I had to read out loud to whoever happened to be in the room with me. Occasionally it's a bit repetitive, but that's because it's a compilation of rants from his TV program written over a couple of years, and I dare say that if you compiled any set of blog posts or newspaper columns you'd get a similar issue. As a relatively new Canadian, I found it a useful backgrounder to recent events in Canadian politics which I probably didn't pay sufficient attention to at the time. Hm, maybe I should start watching his show...
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LibraryThing member IsaacW
Here are all the best rants ever shown on Rick Mercer Report. It is very good and is absolutley hilarious. More than just being funny it also lets you look back on some important moments in Canada's political history for the past decade.
This is a very good and unique book. Great!
LibraryThing member silentq
A collection of rants by Rick Mercer, from his blog and other writings. He's a Canadian political satirist (man, if he and Stephen Colbert got together to do a show, I have no idea what would happen, but it would be awesome). A lot of the segments are really short, but they're wickedly pointed.
The
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best segment is "Christmas in Flak Jackets", it brought tears to my eyes reading about his holiday visit to the Canadian troops in Afghanistan.
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LibraryThing member gretel47
I don't know that you have to know a lot about Canada to enjoy this book. Frankly, I've LEARNED a lot about Canada reading this. That and watching his show. I'm new here and it got me up to speed quickly, with a smile on my face. Just one thing. Rick's a fairly dynamic fellow. All posed still
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portraits of him just don't work. The cover almost doesn't look like him.
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LibraryThing member patrickmalka
Rick Mercer's rants are always worth listening to. It wasn't hard to predict that this book would be funny, informative and entertaining.
LibraryThing member SylviaC
Most of this book consists of rants and photographs from "The Rick Mercer Report", with about three longer pieces written specifically for the book. A lot of it was kind of disappointing--five year old political commentary doesn't age well. A couple of excellent longer pieces make the book worth
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keeping, though. The one about bungee jumping with Rick Hansen had me laughing out loud, while the one about the importance of adult role models for gay teenagers was far more personal than most of Rick Mercer's work. I would recommend this book only to hardcore Rick Mercer fans.
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LibraryThing member olegalCA
Funny in parts but overall light on content. Meh.
LibraryThing member MickyFine
A collection of Rick's rants from the Rick Mercer Report.

I watched the show for most of its fifteen-year run so it was fun to revisit some of these rants. It's also entertaining to see the things that have changed and stayed the same in Canadian politics. For instance, that moment when I realized
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the current leader of the Conservatives used to be Speaker during the Harper years. Rick is a national treasure in my books and this book is a delight for those who feel the same.
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LibraryThing member Rdra1962
I love Rick Mercer, he makes me laugh and think! The material in this book is dated, and yet with another Harper election going on, still relevant! I was laughing to myself while reading this, but when I passed it on to my teen daughter (we live in the USA now) she didn't get most of the
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references....
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LibraryThing member gypsysmom
I miss Rick Mercer. Canada needs Rick Mercer especially now. Fortunately Rick Mercer is still around doing the things he is good at; he's just not doing them weekly on CBC TV. Earlier this year he did a special rant about social distancing. I don't know if the people it was directed at took his
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advice but I, for one, felt better knowing Rick was on the job. Thanks Rick.

And thanks for doing this audiobook which included lots of his rants from the 15 years of the Rick Mercer Report. It also included some snippets of personal information and made me realize more than I already did what a national treasure this guy is. He is so forthright about his sexuality which must help young people facing their own sexuality issues. And he's funny in that particular way that Canadians especially those from Newfoundland are famous for. A friend of mine thinks that Rick Mercer should be Prime Minister. Wouldn't that be great!
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LibraryThing member Iudita
I'm a little late to the party with this book, but better late than never. I love Rick Mercer's sarcastic, quick wit. I always feel like I'm sharing a private joke with him. If there is such a thing as "Canadian humour" - this is it. He focuses on our national flaws, finds the humour in it and
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somehow through it all, makes your feel so proud to be Canadian.
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Language

Original publication date

2007

Physical description

320 p.; 8.2 inches

ISBN

0385665199 / 9780385665193

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