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The 12 books of Christmas

Retail stores are decking the halls, restaurants are booking parties, and neighbours are balanced precariously on ladders, adorning their homes with strings of lights.

Retail stores are decking the halls, restaurants are booking parties, and neighbours are balanced precariously on ladders, adorning their homes with strings of lights. With the holiday season right around the corner, it’s time for savvy shoppers to start compiling that all-important shopping list, and instead of resorting to the boring old scarf or gift certificate for your hard-to-buy-for brother or dad, why not offer up a literary gift: a book. We’ve compiled a list of 12 good reads for 12 different people on your shopping list, making two suggestions each week: husbands, wives, crazy uncles and aunts, teenage boys and girls, tiny tots, the boss, your American (pro-Obama) friend, the foodie, the family nature nut and local political junkie. Happy reading!

 

For the American political junkie – I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert

 

There is something about making fun of American politics — particularly Republican politics — that is just so enjoyable. Maybe because it is so easy. Americans don’t have any parliamentary, non-confidence safe guards in their government. The U.S.A. is all about being black and white, for or against, left or right, with no ground in between.

I have become engrossed in Canadian culture since moving here seven years ago. Yet, one week till Christmas, I am gleefully flipping through the page of I Am America (And So Can You!) by Stephen Colbert like a six year old kid left alone on Christmas Eve with a pile of presents. Wrapping paper everywhere.

You probably know Stephen Colbert from his T.V. show The Colbert Report , where he plays a Republican talk show host with a big ego. Colbert’s first step into the book world falls along the same lines with outrageous mock-opinions. And while the book is now “old” (it was published in October 2007), it still has a fresh feeling, especially against the backdrop of the recent U.S. presidential elections and McCain-Palin puritan values.

Colbert’s strength is that he oversimplifies. Big time. The book is divided into Spartan topics like Family, Old People, Sports and Sex & Dating (a.k.a. 1001 Abstinence Positions). And don’t expect anything politically correct between the lines. Colbert takes every shot he can get at conservative America, including fake stories from “average American citizens” like old maid Dorothy Grierson who lives alone with her cats.

Here’s a snippet: “At one time America was pure. Men were men, women were women, and gays were ‘confirmed bachelors.’ But somewhere around the late ’60s, it became ‘groovy’ to ‘let it all hang out’ while you ‘kept on truckin’ stopping only to ‘give a hoot.’ And today, Lady Liberty is under attack from cable-channels, the internet blogs, and the Hollywood celebritocracy, out there spewing ‘facts’ like so many locusts descending on America’s crop of ripe, tender values. And as any farmer or biblical scholar will tell you, locusts are damn hard to get rid of.”

You get the idea.

While any big-time fan of Colbert or the Daily Show has probably already read I Am America (And So Can You!) , the book is not a bad gift choice for anyone else that followed the U.S. election this year with morbid and/or soap-opera-like fascination. It’s witty, it’s entertaining, and it doesn’t take long to read. And — just so you know it’s good — Colbert also generously gave his work “The Stephen Colbert Award for Literary Excellence”.

– Claire Piech

 

For the long-time local/councillor – The Weekender Effect: Hyperdevelopment In Mountain Towns, by Robert William Sandford

 

Whistler, as it turns out, is not an entirely unique community. As any ski bum probably already knows, there are plenty of mountain resort communities scattered throughout the world that offer similarly fantastic skiing, along with some of the same socioeconomic problems that we face here in the Sea to Sky region.

The Weekender Effect explores the transformation of small towns into mini cities loaded with pricey housing and food, increased traffic, and environmental concerns. Sound familiar? Thought so. Even the cartoon cover artwork of Robert William Sandford’s pocket-sized tome is eerily familiar — an impressive mountain festooned with houses, multi-storey buildings, cranes and chairlifts.

Sandford, an ecological historian, is all-too familiar with the development of mountain communities. He’s spent a considerable amount of time in the mountains of Western Canada, studying the region’s history and drawing some considerable conclusions about the area and the people who call it home. While he accepts that development is an important part of regional development, Sandford asserts that rural mountain towns are threatened by “weekenders” (wealthy second or third homeowners).

“Soon, long-time locals are reduced to playing the final, irrefutable and rather ridiculous card that is length of residence. ‘I know because I have been here longer than you.’ While this gambit can permit long-time locals a brief wallow in self-righteousness, its ultimate effect can be monstrously counterproductive.”

He goes on to argue for a proactive solution, stressing the importance of community-based development plans to ensure that these towns grow and prosper on a realistic and healthy scale, and that the best interests of the community aren’t sacrificed simply for economic gain.

As a long-time resident of Canmore, Alberta, Sandford draws on a wealth of first-hand knowledge about improper community growth, pointing out that his town changed far too rapidly without a development plan in place. In the end, “weekenders” drove long-time locals out of the community.

Now, I’m certainly not saying that Whistler is the next Canmore, but Sandford offers some compelling examples and arguments that any politically-minded local (new or long-time) should definitely be interested in reading about. Plus, it’s the perfect size for a stocking!

– Holly Fraughton