In his new book, Peter C. Newman promises to capture defining moments in a national revolution – the transformation of Canada from an isolated and deferential country of two founding peoples into an unruly mix of citizens struggling for survival in a shrinking world. That’s not, however, what he really does. The promise seems mainly an attempt to throw a cloak of unity over a disconnected jumble of his recent writings, mostly taken from his popular column in Maclean’s.

Which is not to say that Defining Moments isn’t worth reading. As a social and political analyst, Newman may fire wildly in all directions. But as an entertainer he’s right on target, as he usually is. Like his celebrated books about the Canadian establishment and the Hudson’s Bay Company, Defining Moments is brimming with wit, sharp character sketches, and revealing anecdotes about some of the country’s most influential people.

The book strings together chapters with such themes as Canadian heroes, national leaders, the ugly side of capitalism, and Quebec politics. Individual pieces – there are about 60 of them – cover topics as diverse as Canadians’ love for the outdoors, the death of Bruno Gerussi, and billionaire Ken Thomson’s monomania for his dog, Gonzo. The selections, as well as Newman’s oddly shifting point of view, prevent him from saying anything coherent or even consistent about his stated subject. In a book about a revolution of typical Canadians, there are remarkably few people who aren’t high-level politicians or don’t, like Thomson, possess the atypical characteristics of pronounced weirdness and extreme wealth. Similarly, Newman can’t seem to decide whether the country is hyper-democratic and ungovernable or a rigidly controlled fiefdom run by “a cluster of interlocking elites.”

But the book also reminds us why Newman has become a national institution. He writes with his usual cantankerous eloquence. For example, he calls Canada after the failed Charlottetown Accord “a beached whale – large, immobile, and beginning to stink a little.” And he has truly unrivalled access to Canada’s rich and powerful, which he uses to full effect here – filling the pages with colourful stories about Reichmanns, Eatons, Thomsons, and a who’s who of recent politics. By the last page, readers may not feel that Newman has given them a great book. But they’ll almost certainly have had a great read.