Mary Walsh: Open Book
{{Infobox television
| alt_name =
| image =
| caption =
| genre = Talk show
| creator =
| director =
| developer =
| presenter = Mary Walsh
| starring =
| voices =
| narrated =
| theme_music_composer =
| opentheme =
| endtheme =
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| country = Canada
| language = English
| num_seasons = 3
| num_episodes = 64
| list_episodes =
| executive_producer =
| producer =
| editor =
| location = Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
| camera =
| runtime = 30 min.
| network = CBC Television
| first_aired = {{start date|2002}}
| last_aired = {{end date|2005}}
| related =
}}
Mary Walsh: Open Book was a weekly book club series on CBC Television, which aired from 2002 to 2005. Similar to Oprah's Book Club, the series was hosted by actress and comedian Mary Walsh, who moderated a discussion about books and literature with a panel of celebrities and other guests."Open Book: Mary Walsh is not hard to read. She's up front with her opinions, and that makes for interesting TV". Halifax Daily News, July 21, 2002. Each episode of the series was structured around discussion of a single book, including both Canadian and international literature, and both fiction and non-fiction titles."Walsh gets serious; Actress takes break from comedy on new show Open Book". Windsor Star, July 20, 2002. The series aired at 11 p.m. on Sunday nights, attracting relatively strong ratings for a late time slot."Mary Walsh: Open Book draws high ratings". Canada NewsWire, September 1, 2002.
Participants included actors Megan Follows, Greg Malone, Paul Gross and Mark McKinney, political scientist Janice Stein, lawyer and politician Jerome Kennedy, writers Susan Musgrave and Evelyn Lau, singer Jann Arden, journalist Pamela Wallin and columnist Jan Wong.
Episodes
=Season 1=
{{Episode table |background=#072DB0 |overall= |season= |title= |aux1= |aux1T=Guests | airdate=18 |episodes=
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 1
|EpisodeNumber2 = 1
|Title = Edna O'Brien, The Country Girls
|Aux1 = Noreen Golfman, Megan Follows, Ian Brown
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|07|21}}
|ShortSummary =
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}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 2
|EpisodeNumber2 = 2
|Title = Beryl Bainbridge, According to Queeney
|Aux1 = Sandra Shamas, Pamela Wallin, Fiona Reid
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|07|28}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 3
|EpisodeNumber2 = 3
|Title = Mordecai Richler, Barney's Version
|Aux1 = Mark McKinney, Ed Macdonald, Greg Sinclair
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|08|11}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 4
|EpisodeNumber2 = 4
|Title = Ian McEwan, Atonement
|Aux1 = Jann Arden, Jackie Maxwell, Barry Newhook
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|08|18}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 5
|EpisodeNumber2 = 5
|Title = Alice Munro, Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage
|Aux1 = Jan Wong, John Frizzell, Jackie Maxwell
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|08|25}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 6
|EpisodeNumber2 = 6
|Title = Bruce Chatwin, The Songlines
|Aux1 = Mark McKinney, Diana Swain, John Frizzell
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|09|01}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 7
|EpisodeNumber2 = 7
|Title = V.S. Naipaul, Half a Life
|Aux1 = Evelyn Lau, Michael Crummey, David Gilmour
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|09|08}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 8
|EpisodeNumber2 = 8
|Title = Pat Barker, Regeneration
|Aux1 = David Gilmour, David Macfarlane, Janice Stein
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|09|22}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 9
|EpisodeNumber2 = 9
|Title = Joan Didion, Political Fictions
|Aux1 = Jan Wong, Diana Swain, John Frizzell
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|09|29}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 10
|EpisodeNumber2 = 10
|Title = J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
|Aux1 = Albert Schultz, Susan Musgrave, Kenneth Oppel
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|10|06}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 11
|EpisodeNumber2 = 11
|Title = David Foster Wallace, A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again
|Aux1 = Mark Farrell, Greg Sinclair, Noreen Golfman
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|10|13}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 12
|EpisodeNumber2 = 12
|Title = Mary Karr, The Liars' Club
|Aux1 = Jann Arden, Jan Wong, Susan Musgrave
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2002|10|20}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
}}
=Season 2=
{{Episode table |background=#072DB0 |overall= |season= |title= |aux1= |aux1T=Guests | airdate=18 | released=y |episodes=
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 14
|EpisodeNumber2 = 1
|Title = Sandra Gulland, The Many Lives & Secret Sorrows of Josephine B.
|Aux1 = John Frizzell, Sheila McCarthy, Scott Thompson
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|10|12}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 15
|EpisodeNumber2 = 2
|Aux1 = David Gilmour, Noreen Golfman, Bryden MacDonald
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|10|19}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 16
|EpisodeNumber2 = 3
|Title = Robert D. Kaplan, Balkan Ghosts: A Journey Through History
|Aux1 = Margaret MacMillan, Heather Mallick, Carolyn McCool
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|10|26}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 17
|EpisodeNumber2 = 4
|Title = Margaret Drabble, The Peppered Moth
|Aux1 = Eleanor Wachtel, Fiona Reid, Susan Goyette
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|11|02}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 18
|EpisodeNumber2 = 5
|Title = Margaret Visser, Much Depends on Dinner
|Aux1 = Heather Mallick, Neville MacKay, Patricia Rozema
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|11|09}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 19
|EpisodeNumber2 = 6
|Title = Antonia White, Frost in May
|Aux1 = Shirley Douglas, Bette MacDonald, Wendy Crewson
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|11|16}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 20
|EpisodeNumber2 = 7
|Title = Greg Critser, Fat Land
|Aux1 = David Foot, Diana Swain, Fiona Reid
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|11|23}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 21
|EpisodeNumber2 = 8
|Title = Mikhail Bulgakov, The Master and Margarita
|Aux1 = Greg Malone, Ed Macdonald, Lynn Coady
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|11|30}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 22
|EpisodeNumber2 = 9
|Title = Alice Sebold, The Lovely Bones
|Aux1 = Sylvia Hamilton, Sheila McCarthy, John Frizzell
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|12|07}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 23
|EpisodeNumber2 = 10
|Title = Ian Rankin, Tooth and Nail
|Aux1 = Paul Gross, Jerome Kennedy, Alison Gzowski
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|12|14}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 24
|EpisodeNumber2 = 11
|Title = Louise Erdrich, Love Medicine
|Aux1 = Ed Macdonald, Jennifer Podemski, Evelyn Lau
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|12|21}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 25
|EpisodeNumber2 = 12
|Title = Philip Pullman, The Golden Compass
|Aux1 = David Gilmour, Noreen Golfman, Spider Robinson
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2003|12|28}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 26
|EpisodeNumber2 = 13
|Title = Elizabeth Smart, By Grand Central Station I Sat Down and Wept
|Aux1 = Katherine Govier, David Macfarlane, Jackie Burroughs
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|01|04}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 27
|EpisodeNumber2 = 14
|Title = Margaret MacMillan, Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World
|Aux1 = Lloyd Axworthy, Warren Kinsella, Lesley Choyce
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|01|04}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 28
|EpisodeNumber2 = 15
|Title = Robert Penn Warren, All the King's Men
|Aux1 = Svend Robinson, Kim Campbell, Stevie Cameron
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|01|11}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 29
|EpisodeNumber2 = 16
|Title = Margaret Laurence, The Diviners
|Aux1 = Lisa Moore, Susan Goyette, Jackie Burroughs
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|01|18}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 30
|EpisodeNumber2 = 17
|Title = William Trevor, The Collected Stories
|Aux1 = Geoff Pevere, Evelyn Lau, Michael Winter
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|01|25}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 31
|EpisodeNumber2 = 18
|Title = Mary Gordon, The Shadow Man
|Aux1 = Kathleen Edwards, Brian D. Johnson, Sylvia Hamilton
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|02|01}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 32
|EpisodeNumber2 = 19
|Title = Ruth Rendell, A Dark-Adapted Eye
|Aux1 = Alexa McDonough, Jerome Kennedy, Evelyn Lau
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|02|08}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 33
|EpisodeNumber2 = 20
|Title = Iris Murdoch, The Sea, the Sea
|Aux1 = Stevie Cameron, Paul Greenhalgh, Vincent Walsh
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|02|22}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 34
|EpisodeNumber2 = 21
|Title = Fay Weldon, Down Among the Women
|Aux1 = Cameron Bailey, Michael Winter, Shirley Douglas
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|02|29}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 35
|EpisodeNumber2 = 22
|Title = Doris Lessing, Martha Quest
|Aux1 = Erica Ehm, Hana Gartner, Lesley Choyce
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|03|14}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 36
|EpisodeNumber2 = 23
|Title = Percy Janes, House of Hate
|Aux1 = Geoff Pevere, Peter MacNeill, Susan Goyette
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|03|21}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 37
|EpisodeNumber2 = 24
|Title = Graham Greene, The Comedians
|Aux1 = Michael Crummey, Mark Critch, Elizabeth May
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|03|28}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 38
|EpisodeNumber2 = 25
|Title = Claire Tomalin, Samuel Pepys: The Unequalled Self
|Aux1 = Elliott Leyton, Margaret MacMillan, Fiona Reid
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|04|04}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 39
|EpisodeNumber2 = 26
|Title = Virginia Woolf, Orlando
|Aux1 = Michael Crummey, Marni Jackson, Ian Brown
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|04|18}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
}}
=Season 3=
{{Episode table |background=#072DB0 |overall= |season= |title= |aux1= |aux1T=Guests | airdate=18 | released=y |episodes=
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 40
|EpisodeNumber2 = 1
|Title = Janice Kulyk Keefer, Thieves
|Aux1 = Katherine Govier, Fiona Reid, Greg Malone
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|10|03}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 41
|EpisodeNumber2 = 2
|Title = James Joyce, Dubliners
|Aux1 = Geoff Pevere, Andy Jones, Robert MacNeil
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|10|10}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 42
|EpisodeNumber2 = 3
|Title = Jean Rhys, Wide Sargasso Sea
|Aux1 = David Gilmour, Ralph Benmergui, Valerie Buhagiar
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|10|17}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 43
|EpisodeNumber2 = 4
|Title = Joel Thomas Hynes, Down to the Dirt
|Aux1 = Cameron Bailey, Ed Macdonald, David Gilmour
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|10|24}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 44
|EpisodeNumber2 = 5
|Title = Martin Clark, The Many Aspects of Mobile Home Living
|Aux1 = Heather Mallick, Michael Winter, Leo Furey
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|10|31}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 45
|EpisodeNumber2 = 6
|Title = Nuala O'Faolain, Are You Somebody?
|Aux1 = Diana Swain, Michael Winter, Fiona Reid
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|11|07}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 46
|EpisodeNumber2 = 7
|Title = J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace
|Aux1 = Ed Macdonald, Austin Clarke, Ian Brown
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|11|14}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 47
|EpisodeNumber2 = 8
|Title = Jane Smiley, The Greenlanders
|Aux1 = Michael Crummey, Jackie Burroughs, Jennifer Baichwal
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|11|21}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 48
|EpisodeNumber2 = 9
|Title = Sebastian Faulks, Birdsong
|Aux1 = Jackie Burroughs, Susan Goyette, Noreen Golfman
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|11|28}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 49
|EpisodeNumber2 = 10
|Title = John Cheever, The Stories of John Cheever
|Aux1 = Brian D. Johnson, Geoff Pevere, John Frizzell
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|12|05}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 50
|EpisodeNumber2 = 11
|Title = Richard Ford, Independence Day
|Aux1 = Mark McKinney, Michael Winter, Kerri Sakamoto
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|12|12}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 51
|EpisodeNumber2 = 12
|Title = Jonathan Bate, John Clare: A Biography
|Aux1 = Mark McKinney, Susan Goyette, Stephen Kimber
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|12|19}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 52
|EpisodeNumber2 = 13
|Title = Rian Malan, My Traitor's Heart
|Aux1 = John Frizzell, Marni Jackson, Hana Gartner
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|01|02}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 53
|EpisodeNumber2 = 14
|Title = Christopher Byron, Testosterone Inc: Tales of CEOs Gone Wild
|Aux1 = Robert MacNeil, Heather Mallick, Ralph Benmergui
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|01|09}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 54
|EpisodeNumber2 = 15
|Title = Hugh MacLennan, Two Solitudes
|Aux1 = Linden MacIntyre, Cameron Bailey, Émile Gaudreault
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|01|16}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 55
|EpisodeNumber2 = 16
|Title = Elizabeth Bowen, The Last September
|Aux1 = Susan Goyette, Heather Mallick, Seamus O'Regan
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|01|23}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 56
|EpisodeNumber2 = 17
|Title = William Boyd, Any Human Heart
|Aux1 = Marivel Taruc, Bill Casselman, Seamus O'Regan
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2004|01|30}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 57
|EpisodeNumber2 = 18
|Title = Jonathan Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn
|Aux1 = Mark McKinney, Johanna Schneller, Julie Stewart
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|02|06}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 58
|EpisodeNumber2 = 19
|Title = Gil Courtemanche, A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali
|Aux1 = Linden MacIntyre, Rick Salutin, Don Connolly
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|02|13}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 59
|EpisodeNumber2 = 20
|Title = Tobias Smollett, The Expedition of Humphry Clinker
|Aux1 = Ralph Benmergui, David Gilmour, Katherine Govier
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|02|27}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 60
|EpisodeNumber2 = 21
|Title = Roland Huntford, The Last Place on Earth
|Aux1 = Ralph Benmergui, Douglas Bell, Lisa Taylor
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|03|06}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 61
|EpisodeNumber2 = 22
|Title = Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
|Aux1 = Greg Malone, Ed Macdonald, Julie Stewart
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|03|13}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 62
|EpisodeNumber2 = 23
|Title = Olivia Manning, The Balkan Trilogy
|Aux1 = David Gilmour, Julie Stewart, Linden MacIntyre
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|03|20}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 63
|EpisodeNumber2 = 24
|Title = Gabriel García Márquez, Living to Tell the Tale
|Aux1 = Tal Bachman, M. G. Vassanji, Jane Urquhart
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|03|27}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
{{Episode list
|EpisodeNumber = 64
|EpisodeNumber2 = 25
|Title = Anthony Powell, A Dance to the Music of Time
|Aux1 = Linden MacIntyre, Michael Crummey, Julie Stewart
|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2005|04|03}}
|ShortSummary =
|LineColor= #072DB0
}}
}}
Impact
The show was spoofed on Royal Canadian Air Farce as Open Book with Marg the Princess Warrior, with Roger Abbott impersonating Walsh in her Marg Delahunty persona from This Hour Has 22 Minutes, discussing books with her guests (including Luba Goy's Margaret Atwood). The running gag was Marg's tendency to rant incessantly about each book and then stray off-topic into her political views and declaring her opinion supreme, eventually driving away her guests.
References
{{reflist}}