Originally published on Medium on Dec. 2, 2025.
Thank you, Donald Trump, for reviving my Canadian nationalism and making me fall in love with our literature again.
It’s not that I fell out of love with Canadian writing. Far from it. I grew up reading and admiring Canadian writers, ranging from Mordecai Richler, Alistair MacLeod and the two Margarets (Laurence and Atwood) to the Cohens (Leonard and Matt), Ken Dryden and Yann Martel. In university, I studied Canadian literature and through my adult years and now into middle age I have often read and enjoyed Canadian fiction, non-fiction and poetry.
But my tastes started spreading out and I never consciously decided to pick up and read Canadian books. They would just be mixed in the pile with books by writers from around the world including, of course, the United States of America.
Everything changed after Trump’s re-election, his trade war with Canada and the world and threats of making my country the 51st state. Just as I refused to step foot in what has become an American wasteland to support that economy by purchasing food and products that were Made in the USA in the age of Trump, I decided it was time to buy more Canadian books. In a much bigger way.
And so I have been reading and reviewing those books. To paraphrase Bob and Doug McKenzie, it’s been a beauty way to go eh.
A proviso though: there are no negative reviews in this series. I leave that to professional book reviewers. If I read a book and don’t consider it worthy enough (at least in my opinion) to write about, then I don’t review it.
Take a trip with me then to the Great White North where our politics are not (yet) poisoned, we treat each other and the world with kindness and respect (for the most part), our beer is not water and our hockey players are best.
Click on the titles below and let me know what you think. And thanks for reading.
Claudio D’Andrea has been writing and editing for newspapers, magazines and online publications for about 40 years and has published a book of short fiction, Stories in the Key of Song. Visit him at claudiodandrea.ca or read his stuff on LinkedInand Medium.comand follow him on Bluesky.
▪ Canada Is Not The 51st F**king State!
a collection of critical reviews: books, films, music
Claudio D'Andrea 