Edward Keenan, Some Great Idea - Good Neighbourhoods, Crazy Politics and the Invention of Toronto (Coach House Books)
Some Great Idea, a nonfiction book from The Grid senior editor Edward Keenan tells the decade-long narrative of Toronto’s ascendance as a mature global city. This book traces how post-amalgamation, and under three very different mayors, Toronto managed to so quickly oscillate from one extreme to another, and suggests how the city might proceed from here. Most importantly, it shows how the fundamental principles of diversity and democracy that have made Toronto such a vibrant, dynamic 21st-century city produced as wildly divergent mayors as David Miller and Rob Ford, and what it may mean for the city’s future.
The book is both a thrilling tale of recent Toronto history and an engaging look at the municipal political process. Though it may only reflect one particular city in Ontario, Some Great Idea includes histories of figures like R.C. Harris and Jane Jacobs, while melding the political dimensions of Toronto with the author’s own personal recollections of the Ontario where he’s lived his entire life. Alternately described as ‘a considered and surprisingly personal look at what makes Toronto tick’ (National Post) and ‘a book that should be on every nightstand in the city’ (Under the Skin book blog), Some Great Idea is a compelling snapshot of Toronto on the brink of greatness.