The Road Years: A Memoir, Continued . . .

by Rick Mercer

Rick Mercer is back—again!—with the eagerly awaited sequel to his bestselling memoir

At the end of his memoir Talking to Canadians , Rick Mercer was poised to make the biggest leap yet in his extraordinary career. Having overcome a serious lack of promise as a schoolboy and risen through the showbiz ranks—as an aspiring actor, star of a surprisingly successful one-man show about the Meech Lake Accord, co-founder of This Hour Has 22 Minutes , creator and star of the dark-comedy sitcom Made in Canada —he was about to tackle his biggest opportunity yet.
 
The Road Years picks up the story at that exciting point, with the greenlighting of what would become Rick Mercer Report . Plans for the show, of course, included political satire and Rick’s patented rants. But Rick and his partner, Gerald Lunz, were also determined to do something that comedy tends to avoid as too they would emphasize the positive. Rick would travel from coast to coast to coast in search of everything that’s best about Canada, especially its people. He found a lot to celebrate, naturally, and was rewarded with a huge audience and a run of 15 seasons.
 
The Road Years tells the inside story of that stupendous success. A time when Rick was heading to another town—or military base, sports centre, national park—to try dogsledding, chainsaw carving, and bear tagging; hang from a harness (a lot); ride the “Train of Death;” plus countless other joyous and/or reckless assignments.
 
Added to the mix were encounters with the country’s great. Every living prime minister. Rock and roll royalty from Rush to Randy Bachman. Olympians and Paralympians. A skinny-dipping Bob Rae. And Jann Arden, of course, who gets a chapter to herself. Along the way he even found the time to visit several countries in Africa and co-found and champion the charity Spread the Net, which has gone on to protect the lives of millions.
 
Join the celebration, and revive a wealth of happy memories, with what is Rick Mercer’s funniest, most fascinating book yet.

Genres: Nonfiction, Memoir, Canada, Biography, Audiobook, Humor, Autobiography

296 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 31, 2023

About the author

Rick Mercer is Canada’s sharpest and funniest political satirist. He first came to fame with Show Me the Button I’ll Push It, or Charles Lynch Must Die, a one-man show that toured across Canada. He co-created and was a resident performer on CBC’s This Hour Has 22 Minutes, and was the host of The Rick Mercer Report, the Corporation’s highest-rated comedy show, for fifteen seasons. Rick is co-chair of the Spread the Net campaign, dedicated to preventing the spread of Malaria in Africa, and has also campaigned for the Canadian AIDS Society’s The Walk for Life project. His many honours include 21 Geminis and the Governor General’s Performing Arts Award. He is from St. John’s and currently resides in Toronto.

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved reading this book except for one point - it ended!
I've always been a Rick Mercer fan - watched him on CBC for years and have read all of his books. This new book, "The Road Years" gave me the opportunity to go back to the television episodes that I remembered so well. Within the first 10 minutes of starting to read the book I'd laughed out loud twice. I even had a bit of a weep while reading a couple of chapters.
Rick Mercer has written this book so well that I felt that I was hearing him read it aloud to me. Honestly, it was his voice in my head!
Favourite chapters: checking momma bear and 3 wee cubs in Algonquin Park and the story of how the Spread the Net movement started.
I think that this book would make a great gift, especially for yourself!

[Nora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best read with (a) an empty bladder, (b) an empty mouth (sip your beverage cautiously 💦), (c) no husband trying to get some sleep next to you in bed 🤣😂🤣

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up on Saturday from the library, got home and immediately plopped down on my couch with it. I was just going to read a couple of chapters and ration the rest out for very enjoyable bedtime reading...well that plan didn't work! I have missed watching The Mercer Report (and my annual trip to the live viewing) and this book reminded me how how funny and moving the show was. While reading the book I alternated between snickering and wiping my blurry eyes. Finished it Sunday afternoon. My only regret was the book was not longer! I know there are tons more stories to be shared.

[JR · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, this was much better than the first book and had everything I wanted from the first in this one. It was wayyyyy more funnier than I was expecting, and was basically his life on the road doing The Mercer Report on CBC.

I found myself reading a chapter and then YouTubing said clips from Steven Harper to Jann Arden and surprisingly they still hold up. I was thoroughly entertained.

This seemed much more candid than the actual memoir and I got more of a sense of who Mercer actually was. Enjoyable read. 4 stars

[Karen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I reached my reading goal this year and intentionally finished off with this book! Rick Mercer books are in my self-care toolkit, and I play them when I need a laugh, to destress or to just feel happy. I couldn’t wait for this new book! It is filled with RM’s trademark wit and rants as he tells stories from his 15 years on the road filming The Rick Mercer Report. And he’s such a good storyteller! I laughed out loud several times and even had some teary moments. My favourite stories include:

- How he enjoyed terrifying Jan Arden when she guest starred;

- The success of the Spread the Net contest that he ran in schools to buy mosquito nets for children in Africa;

- When he checked in on baby bears in Algonquin Park: “Even the bears have universal healthcare!”;

- When he and Bob Rae jumped into the Killarney River NAKED during an unsuccessful fishing trip.

Rick Mercer’s pride in this country and his fondness for his fellow Canadians appears all throughout this book. I watched a few RMR skits on YouTube after their chapters and had some good laughs. I just feel good after time with Rick! Maybe he will become part of your self-care routine too!

[Sharon Broughton · Rating 5 out of 5]

The journey across Canada continues with Rick Mercer’s trademark story-telling, bringing the country and its characters to life with each heartwarming, hilarious, charming, too-good -to -be -true -but -believable-anyway tale. Reading this memoir left me appreciative of the effort he and his crew made over 15 years to keep showing us who we are, and reminding us who we could be, inspired by ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always funny.. always on point...I would listen to or read anything this man says. I honestly think Rick mercer for Prime Minister!!

[Debbie George · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent book, with snort milk through your nose funny bits, and tug at your heart serious bits. Rick Mercer is an amazing advocate for Canada and all of us who live here.

[Lyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audiobook - Narrator Rick Mercer
4.5 Stars

If you are an English speaking Canadian, you know Rick Mercer as part of your family. He is an icon! A comedian, television personality, political satirist and author. He is best known for his work on CBC Television’s weekly satirical political commentary: the Rick Mercer Report, which ran for fifteen seasons. He is family. Nuff said!

I took Rick with me on my New Year 10 Km run. He was great company. He takes you on some of the behind-the-scenes stories, from his show. His renditions of the stories I remembered watching, and the behind the scenes looks into how they were put together had me in stitches. Literally! People that I passed while on my run must have thought I was mad, as I was laughing out loud. Rick Mercer wrote and narrated his book so well that I felt he was actually running alongside with me. So how was the 10 km Rick ?

This is an AWESOME audiobook. If you can, buy it, download it from the library or give it as a gift. My husband heard me laughing so much, that he is now listening to it.

Rick, we miss you. Thank you for the levity that you brought us each week. We need more of that and Thank You!.

[LiiLo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Listened to the audio book after reading my sister’s review. Loved hearing the author describe some of his memorable experiences filming the RMR and notable interviews. Loved his description of the first segment with Jan Arden and his delight at her honest reactions. And the segment with Bob Rae brought back funny memories. I loved a lot about this book and how the show came together and how he started the charity to buy mosquito nets. Rick is a fantastic storyteller and a great Canadian and I recommend my friends listen to the audiobook.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

8 hours
I totally enjoyed listening to the unabridged audiobook The Road Years written by Rick Mercer and read by the author. I used to like watching The Mercer Report on CBC television, especially his rants! This book tells the inside story of that show which had a run of 15 seasons. Some inside stories are more humorous than the ones on tv!
5 stars

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

The follow-up to Talking to Canadians, this memoir continues where the earlier memoir left off: Rick Mercer Report. This one goes more in-depth into the memorable experiences Mercer had during the early to mid-2000s. The Road Years stands on its own so you don't need to read Talking to Canadians to enjoy it....though I highly, HIGHLY recommend you do read Talking to Canadians because it is as fantastic as this book and together they give you more Mercer.

Maybe it's because I grew up watching him on Codco, 22 Minutes, and RMR but I could practically hear his voice as I was reading this, it was practically like listening to an audiobook. There were so many great stories and I found while reading it I was alternating between "OMG, I remember that!" and "OMG how did I miss that story?"

His observations about the former and current politicians were fascinating, his love of Canadians absolutely heartwarming, and his passion for Ottawa architecture weirdly sucked me and will no doubt colour my next trip to Ottawa. Overall, would highly recommend checking this book out if you get the chance.

[Peter Moran · Rating 4 out of 5]

How fitting to finish this book on Canada Day written by a great Canadian. The book gives a good insight into place and people across the country that make up our great country. I enjoyed watching the Rick Mercer Report and recently saw Rick and Jann Arden live. What a blast!!!!

[Nanci · Rating 5 out of 5]

A completely enjoyable read. I was a follower of The Mercer Report and was saddened when it ended. This book is a great reminder of Rick’s adventures on the show and brought more than a few smiles to my face. Canada needs more Rick Mercers.

[Ty Bradley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy to read and some parts are informative and mildly entertaining.

As a whole it is a surface-level and elitist exercise in self-promotion.

[Joshua Harding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Witty, insightful, and hilarious. Rick Mercer at his very best! 🤌

[Rebecca Jebson - Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great audiobook!

[Signey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rick Mercer is just a funny guy - and it comes through in his writing. I really enjoyed this memoir - it was so much fun to follow him as he shared some of his memorable experiences on the Rick Mercer Report. However, I do think his memoir "Talking to Canadians" was slightly more enjoyable. I look forward to picking up more from Rick Mercer!

[Wesley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A nice quick blast of Canadian stories from the last couple decades. Audiobook a plus.

[Gillian · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE YOU RICK MERCER

[Remi VL · Rating 5 out of 5]

I rarely live with much "pride" about where I'm from, or my roots, be it the Acadian side or the Canadian side. It's not the Canadian part specifically, it's the nice, funny part that sometimes feels lost, but Rick's stories showed some of that that I love hearing/reading about. It's not just that, and the book is the most apolitical books about politics you'll read, which I'm perfectly fine with. Funny and fun and self deprecating, but very Canadian, and I loved it all.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderful follow-up to Talking to Canadians - a true love letter to Canada and Canadians. Rick Mercer is a treasure.

[Dawn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're ever feeling down about the state of our country, do yourself a favour and pick up this book. Rick Mercer is such an amazing ambassador for Canada and for all Canadians. The book chronicles his adventures filming his long-running TV show "The Rick Mercer Report". He has been blessed to visit every corner of the country, and his stories will make you laugh and truly inspire. He writes with a self-deprecating, personal style, and you can just feel how much he truly loves Canada. I think every Canadian could find something to enjoy and appreciate in this book. A gem!

[Ange · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I wasn't already moving back to Canada after 12 years overseas, this book would have done it. These peeks behind the curtain are funny, heartwarming, and revealing. I'm reassured by his profiles of different Canadian pop culture icons who are as nice or even nicer than you'd think. He humanizes politicians, including Tories, in a way that probably irks some people while also being unfiltered in his criticism. I'd highly recommend the audiobook to get the full effect.

[Ron Gagnier · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite Canadians.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this was just like being backstage while the program was being filmed. This is a sample of Canadian satire at its finest and I enjoyed revisiting some of my favourite episodes, some of which (like the Train of Death) leave you with the conviction that Canadians can't wait to do yet another insane thing to put their lives at risk. The Train of Death involves three cars chained together. The second and third cars don't have engines and only the third car has brakes. Now run a demolition derby with these teams. The fishing session with Bob Rae is indeed seared on my memory and, no, I didn't remember that they hadn't caught any fish.
For those who didn't see it; Rick and Bob Rae (a one term NDP premier of Ontario) flew up to an isolated lake and went fishing from a boat while Rick interviewed the politician. When they had spent more than their allotted time and had no bites Rick said that there was only one thing to do and that was strip naked and jump into the lake. They were on the dock by this time and with no further discussion Rae just started to strip down. Rick joined him and the two jumped into the lake. As viewers we just sat with our mouths hanging open. The interview had been fairly serious up to that moment and Mr Rae had warned Canadians that there was a huge nightmare of defaulted mortgages coming up and it would roll into Canada. Some how, even with careful camera editing and a partially pixelated image we were so stunned that the forecast was lost in our minds so we didn't remember it when all those sub-prime deals fell apart in the US and the echo did indeed wash up into Canada.
There are all the memories of Jann Arden screaming as she is yet again dangled off some ledge or sent hurtling down a luge run or some other semi dangerous thing. She screams beautifully and is a lot of fun to watch. She is both brave and witty. Bravery consists of fear overcome by determination.
The very best thing wasn't seen on the program. It was Rick Mercer and Linda Stronach creating the Spread the Net charity to supply bed nets to protect African children from malaria infecting mosquitoes after they visited a number of sites in Africa on a fact finding tour. That was supposed to be it and he wasn't going to mention it on the program because malaria isn't funny and massive numbers of children dying of the disease is even less so but one night when they were short material by two minutes and they decided to hold a fun contest to fill the time the best idea the team came up with was to challenge high schools and universities to see which school could raise the most money for nets. They weren't expecting much but the whole thing took off and the only people who were upset were hundreds of elementary students who weren't eligible to enter. They lied about the level of their schools and entered anyway. The contest ran for four years and raised $2m. He says it was some of the best tv he's done and I can believe it. The prizes were visits to the winning school by the crew and I have never seen so many enthousiastic people in my life as the students of those institutions, including the Peterborough college that was fighting a mandated closure by the Province of Ontario. They didn't stop the closure and the Liberal government of Ont. looked really bad in the book but the school came across on the screen as a thriving hive of learning and activism. We didn't learn what was the reason for closure but boy did we enjoy their last hurrah. And the school campaigns were all organised by the students.
Rick is an unabashed Canadian enthusiast and it was great to hear about the wild and crazy things we get up to as well as who our elected representatives are and what they think about important things. Too bad we lost MS Stronach out of elected office. We had Rick's program for 15 years and it was just the best moment of every week for all that time. The book is just as good.

[Michael Gibson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book I really needed to read in these challenging times and the world “events” being created by the leadership of the country south of us.
Rick Mercer and his shows, comedy and rants have been a big part of my life, as I have grown older right along with him (since I am just several months older than Rick). Many of the experiences he reminisced about during his cross country travels filming episodes of the “Rick Mercer Report”, I had not problems visualizing as I had seen the episodes on the CBC when they were aired and those shows are fondly etched in my memories. Rick was always spot on with his rants and commentary in his shows, but what I liked most about his shows was that he was able to give us a view of the “real” person behind the guests he had on his shows, whether they we famous or not. To this day I can still recall the screams of Jann Arden as she was doing the walk on the CN Tower. The chemistry of the friendship between Rick and Jann was magic on TV.
During his travels reflected on in this memoir Rick was driven to try to identify what is means to be a Canadian, and I can’t agree more with his statement at the end of the book where he says “I may not know what it means to be a Canadian, but I do know I have never wanted to be anything else”. Well said Rick!

[Marion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent memoir. Tons of laughs, along with some serious bits too. Rick Mercer is the ultimate champion of our country, Canada. I loved the RMR program on CBC and Rick's love of meeting and talking with people from the every man to Prime Ministers shone thru on both the program and in this book. We miss you, Rick! Please keep writing to keep us amused and up to date on what your life is like now.

[Tim Beals · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another great book by Rick Mercer! I remember found the part with Jann Arden and the bear in Algonquin Park hilarious. The behind the scenes look into the Spread the Net campaign was really interesting too, since I didn’t know that’s how it all got started. If you enjoyed watching The Mercer Report, this is another book you should definitely check out.

[Janet Hutchinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rick Mercer never fails to amuse. Whether he is writing about changing the flag on top of the Peace Tower, touring Calgary with Jann Arden (although Jann was the more amusing one in that chapter) or the famous fishing segment with Bob Rae, his writing is often laugh out loud funny. He never fails to spear politicians of any ilk, and the chapters on his trip to Africa with Belinda Stronach , and the resulting Spread the Net campaign, or the Vote mob both are funny and drive the point home that the next generation just might have it together. Good fun.