Diary of a Canadian Nobody

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Pub Date 16 Dec 2016 | Archive Date 28 Sep 2020

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Description

The diary of a Mr. Nobody and how the war on terror affects his modern family. 

Arthur Lakelady is a man with many worries. Alys, his wife, is infatuated with the home renovator re-modeling their kitchen, or so their teenage daughter Gwen says. How Gwen knows this is a mystery to Arthur for she never leaves her bedroom, except to go to school and work.

Gwen's worried a family breakup will spoil her chances of a good university. That doesn't concern Arthur for Gwen passes all her tests, often with more than 100%. That does worry Arthur; schools, he feels, should understand the meaning of percentage.

While Gwen's university career may be assured,Arthur is worried his son Lance may not even graduate from junior school, unless Lance forsakes ice hockey and soccer soon. 

The diary of a Mr. Nobody and how the war on terror affects his modern family. 

Arthur Lakelady is a man with many worries. Alys, his wife, is infatuated with the home renovator re-modeling their...


Advance Praise

"The Diary of a Canadian Nobody is one of those books that as soon as you are a chapter or two in you know will one day be made into a movie."

The author’s wit shines through the diarist Arthur Lakelady, and I had some laugh out loud moments. While Arthur’s wife has roving eyes, things at work aren’t going well, his children could work harder at school and he must escape from the unwanted advances of a female colleague, he handles his problems with good humour. The war on terror brings everything into perspective and introduces a sobering quality to the book.

"The Diary of a Canadian Nobody is one of those books that as soon as you are a chapter or two in you know will one day be made into a movie."

The author’s wit shines through the diarist Arthur...


Available Editions

ISBN 9781541171886
PRICE $0.99 (USD)

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Featured Reviews

Oh Canada!

Laughed my way through it. As a Canadian expat, I forget the unique humor and thinking of my fellow Canadians - and this made me homesick for Canadian neighbors. Lots of details but will keep you amused on a commute or at the beach.

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I haven't been reading a lot lately but I as I set up my iPhone I added the Kindle app and remembered I had a copy of this from NetGalley. As I read it I wasn't sure if I'd like it even though I thought the premise was interesting enough. The problem is that when you read someone's diary you have to feel as if you're peeking into someone's most intimate thoughts. It's a running commentary on who the person is. You get them as they really are, not how you expect them to be. James' creation is an interesting read that shows us a man who is just like everyone else. If you saw him on the street he wouldn't really stick it. That's what makes this work so well. It's the reality that's injected here. Arthur could, in fact, be any one of us. We all have the same frustrations, the same ideas. These are the intimate thoughts that you never speak of. Instead, you allow the frustration to drip onto the pages of your diary. The thing is, Arthur wants people to read it.



As the book evolves you begin to see him become someone else. That's where the book strays a bit and even though he's a nobody he's still a human who's wife could be having an affair, and the struggles he faces in his life resonate because we've all been there. We understand exactly where he's coming from. A lot of people may find this tedious, but there's a great deal of humor throughout the novel. This isn't just an account of his day to day life, but a glimpse into his thoughts, his ideas about his life and of course everything else he decides to write about. Arthur is the kind of guy who has fallen into adulthood and has no idea how he got there, and as the diary goes on we see a new side of him emerge. That's when the novel begins to slip a little, but despite that, it's still an interesting read and one that doesn't fit into normal categories.

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Loved it! The protagonist was so appealing and the winding ways of his thoughts and the events of his life were compelling. The writing style was tight, descriptive and so amusing. I read this in one sitting.

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