In a recent Maclean’s column, Barbara Amiel explained how she has come to see herself the way others portray her: “After the first 500 or so articles describing our collective faults in general and my particular nastiness, one gets the point and I’ll make a confession: after a while you come to believe it … In spite of all I know about the media, I cannot credit them with total fabrication—if so many people who have never spoken a word to me can dissect my being and attribute such vile characteristics to me I must have something that smells.”
It would be interesting to know how many people in the political world are defined by the narratives strangers create about them or their views. Based on reading David Frum’s first novel, Patriots, I think a similar situation might have happened to him.
The Canadian-born writer is best known as a speechwriter to George W. Bush during the run-up to the war in Iraq. He has published many books on...
Anthony Furey is a columnist for Sun Media and the chain’s national comment editor. He’s written for various other publications including TIME and The Times Literary Supplement. Find him on Twitter at @anthonyfurey.
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