“What do we really know of the underbelly of election campaigns? In Noah Richler’s biting book, we get the ins, the outs, and the head-scratching outtakes. With candour, humour, and fascinating detail, Richler lures us into the world of political candidacy and never lets us go. The genius of The Candidate is that we learn as he learns, inside the town halls, bars, and homes of the riding of Toronto-St. Paul’s. A must-read for Canadians curious about the real story behind the folks who still brazenly knock on our doors soliciting votes.” – 2016 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize Jury (Nahlah Ayed, Megan Leslie, and Colby Cosh)

“In this meticulously researched yet passionate book, Noah Richler aptly chronicles a shift in public discourse on war in Canada. In a country that has long perceived itself (rightly or wrongly) as by nature a peace-keeping force, war has gone from being a non-topic seldom discussed outside academia, to a well-oiled identity shaping mechanism. This book will make Canadians ponder Brecht’s aphorism: ‘Woe to the nation that hungers for heroes.’” – 2012 Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing Jury (Ed Broadbent, Tasha Kheiriddin, and Daniel Poliquin)