Most Popular Books by Will Ferguson

Why would there be a contract out on Edwin de Valu''s life? Edwin -- the wiry low-level editor at Panderic Press. Why has rage disappeared from the roads and McDonald''s gone alfalfa? How come everyone seems so damn happy? And most importantly, who, or what, is Tupak Soiree? When an enormous self-help manuscript lands on Edwin''s desk, it''s headed for the trash. Edwin''s cynicism of self-help books, coupled with his filthy mood that morning, results in him dismissing Tupak Soiree''s What I Learned on the Mountain and using it as a doorstop. However, Tupak''s manuscript is unique -- a self-help book that actually works. Before Edwin knows it, a chain of events begins that affects not only his own life but the world at large. For those who choke on Chicken Soup for the Soul or have choice words for Dr. Phil, Will Ferguson offers up a killer dose of Happiness™ -- a masterpiece of comic fiction.

A startlingly original tale of heartbreak and suspense A car tumbles down a snowy ravine. Accident or suicide? On the other side of the world, a young woman walks out of a sandstorm in sub-Saharan Africa. In the labyrinth of the Niger Delta, a young boy learns to survive by navigating through the gas flares and oil spills of a ruined landscape. In the seething heat of Lagos City, a criminal cartel scours the internet looking for victims. Lives intersect, worlds collide, a family falls apart. And it all begins with a single email: “Dear Sir, I am the son of an exiled Nigerian diplomat, and I need your help ...” 419 takes readers behind the scene of the world’s most insidious internet scam. When Laura’s father gets caught up in one such swindle and pays with his life, she is forced to leave the comfort of North America to make a journey deep into the dangerous back streets and alleyways of the Lagos underworld to confront her father’s killer. What she finds there will change her life forever ... From the internationally bestselling travel writer Will Ferguson, author of Happiness™ and Spanish Fly, comes a novel both epic in its sweep and intimate in its portrayal of human suffering. It’s a story of love in a time of darkness, of one woman’s search for redemption, and of a young boy who will triumph above it all.

Offbeat, charming, and filled with humour and insight, Beyond Belfast is the story of one man’s misguided attempt at walking the Ulster Way, “the longest waymarked trail in the British Isles.” It’s a journey that takes Will Ferguson through the small towns and half-forgotten villages of Northern Ireland, along rugged coastlines and across barren moorland heights, past crumbling castles and patchwork farms. From IRA pubs to Protestant marches, from bandits and bad weather to banshees and blood sausage, he wades into the thick of things, providing an affectionate and heartfelt look at one of the most misunderstood corners of the world. As the grandson of a Belfast orphan, Will also peels back the myths and realities of his own family history—a mysterious photograph, rumours of a lost inheritance. The truth, when it comes, is both surprising and funny …

Raised by his father in the dying town of Paradise Flats, Jack McGreary has learned to live by his wits. When a pair of fast-talking swindlers named Virgil and Miss Rose blow through town, Jack joins them and soon finds himself caught up in a murder ploy.

Originally published as Hokkaido Highway Blues, with limited distribution in Canada, Will Ferguson’s classic book about Japan, for all fans of the bestselling Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw. With the same fervour they have for outlandish game shows and tiny gadgets, the Japanese go nuts each spring when the cherry blossoms sweep from island to island towards the country’s northerly tip. Will Ferguson was celebrating the event in the standard fashion. And after way too much sake he announced he would be the first person in recorded history to follow the blossom’s progress end to end. To make it a challenge worth doing, he’d hitchhike all the way: relying on the kindness of some very weird and wonderful strangers. Mixing his penchant for biting observation with wicked humour, Ferguson starts at the southernmost tip of Cape Sata and heads north for distant Hokkaido. Whether he is doing the forbidden and not knowing it, or holding "conversations by non sequitur," it is a journey full of misadventures and revelations. The resulting travelogue is one of the funniest and most illuminating books ever written about Japan. To make matters worse, I decided to hitchhike. Striking a heroic stance, I declared my intention to my Japanese friends to become the first person ever to hitchhike the length of Japan, end-to-end, cape-to-cape, sea-to-sea. This did not impress them as much as I had hoped. “Why would you want to do that?” they asked, genuinely puzzled. “There is no reason to hitchhike. That’s why we built the Bullet Train.” Others worried about my safety. “But,” I would argue, “Japan is a very safe country, is it not?” “Oh, yes. Very safe. Safest in the world.” “So why shouldn’t I hitchhike?” “Because Japan is dangerous.” And so on. Now, I will admit that mooching rides across Japan is not a major achievement—I mean, it’s not like I paddled up the Amazon or discovered insulin or anything—but I am the first person ever to do this, so allow me my hubris. When I left my home in Minamata City aboard a southbound train, I felt suitably bold with my backpack and muscular thumb. “I’m going to hitchhike the length of Japan,” I told the man beside me. He smiled and nodded. “I’m going to follow the cherry blossoms.” He nodded. “All the way to Russia,” I said. He smiled again, and soon after changed seats. —from Hitching Rides with Buddha

Thomas Rosanoff was used by his father, an esteemed psychiatrist, as a test subject when he was a boy, being watched by researchers behind one-way glass for his entire childhood. Now a gifted med student, Thomas is the researcher, and his subjects are three homeless men, all of whom claim to be messiahs. But when Thomas''s father intervenes in the experiment, events spin out of control and Thomas must confront the voices he hears in the labyrinth of his own mind.

Cultures collide when a Western journalist travels the length of Japan along a trail of cherry blossoms, & recounts his often hilarious experiences.

From the Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning novelist of 419 comes a spellbinding literary adventure novel about precious objects lost and found. The world is filled with wonders, lost objects—all real—all still out there, waiting to be found: · the missing Fabergé eggs of the Romanov dynasty, worth millions · the last reel of Alfred Hitchcock’s first film · Buddy Holly’s iconic glasses · Muhammad Ali’s Olympic gold medal How can such cherished objects simply vanish? Where are they hiding? And who on earth might be compelled to uncover them? Will Ferguson takes readers on a heroic, imaginative journey across continents, from the seas of southern Japan, to the arid Australian Outback, to the city of Christchurch, New Zealand, after the earthquake. Prepare to meet Gaddy Rhodes, a brittle Interpol agent obsessed with tracking “The Finder”—a shadowy figure she believes is collecting lost objects; Thomas Rafferty, a burnt-out travel writer whose path crosses that of The Finder, to devastating effect; and Tamsin Greene, a swaggering war photographer who is hiding secrets of her own. The Finder is a beguiling and wildly original tale about the people, places, and things that are lost and found in our world. Both an epic literary adventure and an escape into a darkly thrilling world of deceit and its rewards, this novel asks: How far would you be willing to go to recover the things you’ve left behind?

“Strap in for a hilarious and satisfying ride.” —Terry Fallis, bestselling author of Operation Angus A once-famous TV sleuth An amateur theater production An onstage murder A town full of suspects… Miranda Abbott, once known for the crime-solving, karate-chopping church pastor she played on network television, has hit hard times. She’s facing ruin when a mysterious postcard arrives, summoning her to Happy Rock, a small town in the Pacific Northwest. But when she gets there, nothing is what she expected. In dire straits, she signs up for an amateur production at the Happy Rock Little Theater. On opening night, one of the actors is murdered, live, in front of the audience. But no one actually saw what happened. Now everyone is under a cloud of suspicion, including the town doctor, the high school drama teacher, an oil-stained car mechanic, an elderly gentleman who may have been in the CIA—and Miranda herself. Clearly, the only way to solve this mystery is for Miranda to summon her skills as television’s Pastor Fran. Because the show must go on! Miranda Abbott Mystery Book 1: I Only Read Murder by Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson Book 2: Mystery in the Title by Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson Book 2: Mystery in the Title by Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson

From the bestselling authors of I Only Read Murder comes a sidesplitting mystery of epic movie-of-the-week proportions, featuring the unstoppable Miranda Abbott. Miranda Abbott, actor, will once again be a star. After a very long dry spell that followed her network hit series, Pastor Fran Investigates, Hollywood has come calling and wants Miranda back. This time, she will be the female lead in an oddly expensive movie of the week being filmed in Happy Rock. Miranda signs on the dotted line, but her trusty assistant, Andrew, a whiz with apps and clouds, thinks it all seems a bit fishy. Things go from bad to worse when Miranda’s costar makes a grand entrance at a media-packed press conference by crashing through the atrium window at the Duchess Hotel and being very much dead. The out-of-town cast and crew are horrified, but the great citizens of Happy Rock—including police chief Ned Buckley, grumpy bookstore owner and soon-to-be ex-husband Edgar Abbott, Bea of Bea’s B&B, and the malodorous Melvin Jacobson of S.J. Fertilizer Supply—return to help solve the case in this second Miranda Abbott mystery. Miranda Abbott Mystery Book 1: I Only Read Murder by Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson Book 2: Mystery in the Title by Ian Ferguson and Will Ferguson

A wild ride through Canadian history, fully revised and updated! This new edition of Canadian History For Dummies takes readers on a thrilling ride through Canadian history, from indigenous native cultures and early French and British settlements through Paul Martin''s shaky minority government. This timely update features all the latest, up-to-the-minute findings in historical and archeological research. In his trademark irreverent style, Will Ferguson celebrates Canada''s double-gold in hockey at the 2002 Olympics, investigates Jean Chrétien''s decision not to participate in the war in Iraq, and dissects the recent sponsorship scandal.

The follow-up to the back-to-back successes of How to Be a Canadian (over 110,000 copies sold) and Happiness™ (Winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour). Will Ferguson spent a three-year period criss-crossing Canada and back again. In a helicopter above the barrenlands of the sub-Arctic, in a canoe with his four-year-old son, aboard seaplanes and along the Underground Railroad, Will’s travels have taken him from Cape Spear on the coast of Newfoundland to the sun-dappled streets of Olde Victoria. In his last book, Will told us how to be Canadian; now in this book, he will tell us what it means to be Canadian. Will’s journey takes him to far-flung isolated communities as well as deep into Canada’s urban centres. From the “million-acre farm” that is P.E.I. to the tobacco belt of southern Ontario, from the architectural mess that is Montreal to the glorious jumble that is St. John’s, from a renegade republic in northwestern New Brunswick to a tundra buggy in the polar bear migration paths of Hudson Bay, Will explodes the myths of who we are. Funny, poignant and insightful, Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw is a provocative tribute to our quirky and fascinating country. Excerpt from Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw: In one particular seedy St. John’s pub, I was adopted by a work crew from Portugal Cove who took an immediate, almost antagonistic liking to me. “You’re from Alberta, you say? I have a cousin in Fort McMurray, maybe you know him.” (Everybody in Newfoundland has a cousin in Fort McMurray.) The crew from Portugal Cove tormented me with screech and second-hand smoke as they regaled me with tales of how their families were so poor “back when” that all they could afford to eat were lobsters. This was not the first time I had heard this. Apparently half the population of Newfoundland has subsisted on lobster at some point or other.

Three locked rooms. Three impossible crimes. One determined sleuth. Miranda Abbott is back in a new mystery from the bestselling authors of I Only Read Murder and Mystery in the Title The famous are descending on the town of Happy Rock. This time, the stars are not of the screen but of the page. The Happy Rock bookstore, I Only Read Murder, is hosting not only an author festival but a murder mystery festival, with six of the biggest names in crime fiction. New bookstore majority co-owner and former TV star Miranda Abbott loves nothing more than the idea of hosting literary luminaries. Little does she realize the authors are bringing their egos, their professional jealousies, and their personal grudges along with their books. And they all want the first look at a mysterious posthumous manuscript that has been delivered to the bookstore. This festival of rivals goes from bad to worse when one of the authors turns up dead in a locked room with no windows. And this death is just the beginning—no one knows which author will be next. Miranda is on the case, along with Edgar, her almost–ex-husband; Andrew, her one-person entourage; Ned, the patient police chief; and the good people of Happy Rock. Together, they’ll stop at nothing to solve three murders, in three locked rooms, and three impossible crimes.

It isn’t always easy being Canadian, according to Will Ferguson, but it can be a lot of fun. Asked to write a follow-up to his runaway bestseller Why I Hate Canadians, Ferguson, who’s Canadian himself, recruited his brother Ian -- comedy writer and executive producer of the Canadian series Sin City and a Canadian too -- to create this ultimate guide to the country''s cultural quirks. The result is a hilarious inside look at that unique species, the Canadian, and their thoughts on such diverse subjects as beer, sex, dating rituals, sports, politics, religion, social rules -- and, of course, their trademark death-defying search for the middle of any road.

Teena Spencer knows from experience what it is to live through months of hockey mania and endless weeks of playoff insanity, when your partner is sprawled on the couch, knocking back beer and yelling at the TV. If you can''t beat ''em, join ''em, she decided, and proceeded to learn the ins and outs of Canada''s national game. From butt-ending to dipsy-doodles, icing to offsides, The Girlfriend''s Guide to Hockey illuminates the often arcane language of hockey in clear, humourous text. It''s all here: the jargon, positions, rules, teams, top players and rituals and trivia, with details on women in hockey, including Canada''s silver-medal-winning 1998 Olympic team (who, after all, did better than the men!).

First published in 1997, this hilarious book launched satirist Will Ferguson''s career. Challenging the notion that Canadians are "nice, " the book asks, "Do we as Canadians deserve a country so great?" Tackling subjects from Canada''s favorite inbred royals to the mighty beaver as national icon, from sex in a canoe to all-Canadian "superhero" Captain Canuck, Ferguson rampages across the cultural landscape. The book also provides a fast-paced, opinionated overview of telling moments in Canadian history, including its run-amok Mounties and "fun-loving days" of the country''s (unacknowledged) slave trade.

由南向北全程搭便車 一路追著賞櫻花路線 「小心!外國人很危險!」 最嬉皮的裏日本之路，絕對讓你捧腹大笑!! 對任何打算前往日本的人來說，這是一本不可多得的好書。 如果你已經去過，你會忍不住大笑，因為書中的情景讓你感同身受。 ——《地理雜誌》 弗格森的旅程從日本的最南端佐多岬開始，一路向北徒步、搭便車，最終抵達北海道的宗谷岬。這段旅程貫穿日本的47個都道府縣，讓他能夠深入了解這個國家的文化、習俗和當地人文風情。 每年，日本的櫻花季一開場，全國掀起一股熱鬧的賞櫻活動。當櫻花以燦爛華麗的身影由南到北迅速延展之際，這些賞櫻的狂熱分子也隨之上演一場又一場既驚心又戲劇性的賞花情事。 作者弗格森自然也加入這賞櫻的行列，而且全程追蹤「櫻花前線」，更瘋狂的是，他竟然異想天開決定在長達三千公里的賞櫻之路全程搭便車遊遍日本。 當他宣告這個想法時，沒人對這計畫抱持樂觀，畢竟對當時日本人而言，搭便車旅行無異是一種牴觸文化的行徑。 弗格森的「櫻花前線」追逐之路，從亞熱帶的南部，一路直抵北部大半年為雪所覆蓋的北海道。旅途中驚險處處、糗事連連，如在四國被誤認為是巴西足球球員而差點被櫻花噎死；因為跟著一本旅遊指南指示，在公路的交流道嘗試攔車卻遭到逮捕。一路上，常因為他的｜外國人」（gaijin）的身分而惹來哭笑不得的遭遇，比方明明有空房的旅館拒絕他投宿；一位母親看見他急忙抱起小孩低語著：「小心！外國人很危險！」…… 這本書不僅是旅行記述，更是作者對日本文化的深刻觀察和反思。弗格森巧妙地結合了個人經歷見聞，將日本描繪成一個既古老又現代、既傳統又充滿矛盾的國度。 【書評讚譽】 ★一絲天才的靈光……極具黑色幽默。——《星期日先驅報》 ★對任何打算前往日本的人來說，這是一本不可多得的好書。如果你已經去過，你會忍不住大笑，因為書中的情景讓你感同身受。——《地理雜誌》 ★他的幽默和見解讓人莞爾……他用一雙令人敬佩的眼睛，觀察當代日本。——《觀察家報》 ★在那堅韌的外表下，隱藏著一顆詩意的靈魂：雖然他可能喝得太多，最終獨自一人汗流浹背地待在悲傷的“情人旅館”裡，但他能以極其敏銳的筆觸書寫關於神道教、歷史、自然和建築。搭便車的方式使他能夠以新穎而幽默的視角呈現一個既神祕又“超現實”的國度。——《星期日泰晤士報》 ★我非常喜愛《北海道公路藍調》——弗格森先生是一位非常有才華的作家。——比爾‧布萊森 ★一段充滿諷刺、詩意與洞見的奇異旅程。——《蘇格蘭人報》 ★充滿見解且極具創意的觀察，這是一部出色的旅行文學作品。而其多處令人捧腹大笑的片段更是增色不少。——Insight Japan ★年度公路書籍……充滿溫情的敘述，夾雜着慷慨的諷刺——《每日電訊報》

Edwin de Valu, an overworked editor at Panderic Press, is in trouble. The weekly editorial meeting isn''t going well and he needs a hit for the upcoming fall season. In desperation he presents a previously rejected self-help manuscript, "What I Learned on the Mountain,"by Tupak Soiree. Much to Edwin''s chagrin, the project is accepted. But even from the early editorial stages there are ominous signs that the manuscript may be more than Edwin ever bargained for. A janitor who reads the manuscript is suddenly transformed into a millionaire philanthropist. After skimming through the paragraphs on "sexual realignment,"Edwin''s wife eagerly turns their marriage bed into a passion pit of artful sexual techniques. After publication, the book becomes an instant bestseller. But can this self-help book be the real thing? Dismayed by the plague of happiness that ensues, Edwin seeks to get to the bottom of the mysteries of Tupak Soiree and the book he unleashed on our unsuspecting world. In this satirical, fast-paced novel, Ferguson skewers society''s obsession with self-improvement and pokes fun at generational divides.

A funny and fascinating tour de force from Will Ferguson, three-time winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour. Ferguson has spent years wandering and musing across Canada and beyond. Canadian Pie includes his reflections on the lost art of crank calls, tips on how to get someone to pick blueberries out of a muffin for you, and lessons of a mini-bar ninja. There are “lost” radio scripts of a Maritime soap opera, a roundup of big objects beside the highway, and an ode to young love in Old Quebec. Read about his encounter with an aging kamikaze pilot, listen in on an interview with a pair of Canadian brothers playing semi-pro hockey in Japan, gain an appreciation of the unintentional beauty of New Brunswick’s covered bridges, learn how to pick up women (or not), join a journey on the rainforest coast of Vancouver Island, take a trip to PEI in search of someone—anyone—who will criticize Almighty Anne, and much more.

From the two-time winner of the Leacock Medal for Humour comes a Christmas memoir that spans generations and crosses continents ... Northern lights. Samurai castles. Cree legends. Cape Breton coal mines. South American jungles. Nordic nights. Cherry blossom springs. Will Ferguson traces a single story of coal dust and Christmas from his grandfather''s childhood in Scotland through to Ferguson''s own befuddled life as a father. Along the way, he presents Ultimate Haiku and invents a "Canadian dance" (to the amusement of Ecuadorian villagers). He explores Japanese myths, rides on bus roofs through the Andes, and navigates the machinations of kindergarten playgrounds. Ferguson delves into the philosophy of four-year-olds and reveals at last the true root of celebrity culture. He even answers the burning question, once and for all: What book should you have with you if you are stranded on a desert island? A richly layered story, told with warmth and humour, "Coal Dust Kisses" is funny, poignant, and heartfelt.

Nineteen-year old Jack McGreary is adrift of the faded boomtown of Paradise Flats. Raised by his eccentric and increasingly erratic father, Jack has learned to live by his wits. When a pair of fast-talking swindlers named Virgil and Miss Rose blow through town, Jack falls in with them and together they go on a crime spree across the American Southwest, staging a series of elaborate and hilarious cons and heists. Young Jack is swept along into the world of hot jazz and cold, calculating crimes of the heart as the sexual tension between him and Miss Rose comes to the boil. Someone is being set up. But who is playing who?

Hope lives in Africa. Twenty years after the genocide that left Rwanda in ruins, Giller Prize-winning author Will Ferguson travels deep into the once-mysterious "Land of a Thousand Hills" with his friend and cohort Jean-Claude Munyezamu, a man who escaped Rwanda just months before the killings began. From the legendary Source of the Nile to Dian Fossey''s famed "gorillas in the mist," from innovative refugee camps along the Congolese border to the world''s most escapable prison, from tragic genocide sites to open savannahs and a bridge to freedom, from schoolyard soccer pitches to a cunning plan to get rich on passion fruit, Ferguson and Munyezamu discover a country reborn. Funny, engaging, poignant, and at times heartbreaking, Road Trip Rwanda is the lively tale of two friends, the open road, and the hidden heart of a continent.

This budget-oriented travel guide intoduces hitching as the way to travel cheaply in Japan. The author gives advice on etiquette and strategies, provides hitchiking itineraries, and cross-references the itineraries with an English-language Japanese road atlas.

Una compulsiva crítica del poder que ejercen los medios de comunicación y de nuestro desesperado narcisismo e irredimible credulidad. Para reírse a gusto descubriendo qué sucedería si un libro de autoayuda cumpliera sus promesas; el fin del mundo como lo conocemos.

A hilarious new system for evaluating Canada''s political leaders, from the best-selling author of Why I Hate Canadians.

Qui n''a jamais rêvé de changer au moins une chose dans sa vie ? Edwin Vincent de Valu le premier. Editeur chargé de la collection " Développement personnel " chez Panderic, il est pourtant incapable d''arrêter de fumer, collectionne les frustrations au travail et partage sa vie avec une désespérante écervelée. Sommé de dénicher le best-seller de la rentrée, Edwin, au pied du mur, n''a plus qu''à publier le manuscrit qu''il vient de jeter. Mais comment deviner que cet innocent manuel du bonheur, écrit par un mystérieux gourou, va réellement connaître le succès et faire grimper les ventes à toute allure ? Rapides comme la peste, la joie et la satisfaction contaminent très vite la planète, fléaux menaçant l''humanité...

From the author of the critically acclaimed "Hokkaido Highway Blues" comes this funny debut, a searing and compulsive satire on the concept of self-help and contemporary America. Ferguson''s first novel is a must for anyone who has choked on "Chicken Soup for the Soul" or ever wanted to kill Dr. Phil.

Will Ferguson''s bestselling debut novel--formerly known as "Generica"--is now an international publishing sensation, attracting kudos from critics and readers in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Ferguson is well known for his non-fiction hits such as "How To Be Canadian," but here he turns his hand to fiction--with hilarious results. Edwin de Valu, an overworked editor at Panderic Press, is in trouble. The weekly editorial meeting isn''t going well and he needs a hit for the upcoming fall season. In desperation he presents a previously rejected self-help manuscript, "What I Learned On The Mountain," by Tupak Soiree. Much to Edwin''s chagrin, the project is accepted, and soon becomes the number-one bestseller of all time. But can this self-help book be the real thing? Dismayed by the plague of happiness that ensues, Edwin attempts to get to the bottom of the mysteries of Tupak Soiree and the book he has unleashed on our unsuspecting world. Penguin Group (Canada) has published this edition of "HappinessTM " in a traditional Penguin design in celebration of being named 2008 Publisher of the Year.