As a political scientist, I love political biographies. Campaign autobiographies, not so much. And, on the surface, Justin Trudeau’s reveals why: cutesy title (Common Ground being the name of every other university café across the country), folksy but uninspiring narrative (whose actual authorship remains unclear) and a cover photo that oozes public relations earnestness (and a whiff of star-power advertising).
Like many other such autobiographies, the point is definitely not the literary contribution or even, I would argue, the actual content. Rather, the point of Common Ground is to get Justin Trudeau in every bookstore window, so that his face and frame become a familiar and legitimate point of reference for voters in the next Canadian general election.
For this reason, there is little here that is news. Trudeau is already a celebrity, and while his detractors may chafe at why this is so—his famous name rather than his personal claim to...
Antonia Maioni is a professor of political science at McGill University where she is cross-appointed to the Institute for Health and Social Policy.
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