# The Best Laid Plans

By Terry Fallis · Angus McLintock, book 1

Profile: https://hahafiction.com/books/the-best-laid-plans-cc47f2dc/

A political aide trying to leave Ottawa recruits engineering professor Angus McLintock for an election he is certain to lose. Angus agrees because it gets him out of teaching English to engineers. Then his opponent is caught in a scandal, and the unwilling candidate finds himself in Parliament.

## What makes it funny?

Fallis gives his narrator an appetite for elaborate explanations of undignified events. In the free opening, a slip in excrement receives a detailed account of the airborne journey and landing. Book-group readers also recommend the novel in their funniest-book discussions.

### The comedy at work

Winning is the disaster everyone was trying to avoid. Once elected, Angus has little interest in protecting a political career, which leaves the aide dealing with an MP who can afford to act on principle.

### Try this if…

Readers looking for Canadian political satire with an accidental candidate and a sympathetic outsider may enjoy Angus. The parliamentary maneuvering comes with physical comedy and bodily jokes.

### Good to know

Charlotte Ashley’s independent review found the political solutions too easy and some jokes dated. Expect sexual and bodily humor. This starts the Angus McLintock books; readers identify The High Road and Operation Angus as later installments.

## What to expect

- Genre: Contemporary & literary
- Kind of humor: Satire · Situational comedy
- Format: Novel

## Sources & further reading

- Publisher: [Publisher: edition and synopsis](https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/47824/the-best-laid-plans-by-terry-fallis)
- Reader discussion: [Reader discussion](https://facebook.com/groups/TwoGirlsMustReads/permalink/1773055946826889)
- Review: [Once & Future: critical review](https://once-and-future.com/2011/02/review-the-best-laid-plans-by-terry-fallis)
- Author commentary: [Author: description and chapter 1](https://terryfallis.com/books/the-best-laid-plans)
- Book information: [Fantastic Fiction: series order](https://www.fantasticfiction.com/f/terry-fallis/best-laid-plans.htm)