In the grand and democratic tradition of the internet, this is the platform from where I, Benjamin C. Thornton, will praise, criticize, question, or expound on any subject that requires my attention, all in the space of nine inches (more or less). What did you think I meant?
Readers beware: my only qualifications are a basic facility with a keyboard, and our own shared humanity.
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Tick
Your humble scribe's 15 minutes of fame as an author has begun, faithful readers - at least within a fifteen-block radius of where I live. I was interviewed by the local Rogers Television station on their self-described "infotainment" show "Daytime." Then I was profiled in that pillar of the fourth estate, here, in the Mississauga News, complete with a picture that my brother-in-law suggested made me look like a tv evangelist.
I guess we know who's off the Christmas card list, don't we?
Faithful readers will know that I've been plugging my book, The Ideal Candidate, recently. The book is in large part a political satire, a humorous reflective comment on my own hometown of Mississauga. Set during a municipal election, the story is peopled with ruthless mobsters and calculating political operatives all doing there utmost to influence its outcome. Pretty farfetched stuff, right? I mean, it's quiet suburbia, right? Meet me at the corner of Banal and Apathy.
This is the part in the infomercial where the announcer says: 'But wait, there's more!" and offers you a second solar powered juicer - that's two for the incredibly low price of $14.99.
So for today's homework, read The Ideal Candidate and compare and contrast the political strongarming, misappropriation, and abuse of office presented in the book with current and historical examples from Mississauga.
I should offer a disclaimer, I suppose. I ran into Mayor Hazel McCallion the other night at the Mississauga Arts Awards. She said to me: "There's not much fiction in your book. I haven't read it, but people who have tell me there's not much fiction in it." Well if that were the case, I'd be in trouble, for the Mayor of Newhazel in my story has a private paramilitary counter-espionage agency at her disposal (hidden in the Parks and Recreation department) that protects her interests 'with extreme prejudice' . Naturally, that's not true. Nor is the suggestion that the school board is controlled by the mob, or that elements within City Hall caused a train derailment to secure the Mayor's ongoing popularity. In fact, the book is not fact.
As they say, any resmblance to actual persons or events is entirely coincidental.
Thank you for taking the time and effort to deliver a copy of yournovel, "The Ideal Candidate", to my office today.
I very much appreciate your thoughtfulness and I look forward togetting an opportunity to read it as I am sure it will be very interesting and a great addition to my library.
Once again, thank you for your kindness and please accept my sincere best wishes for the success of your book.
