(written by Terry MacNeil, on June 5-7, 9, 2025)

I don’t remember much of the 1980s – though it’s probably my favourite decade for music. Why? Well, 1980s punk rock was more “hardcore” (and awesome) than it had been during the “first-wave” of the 1970s. Also, the ’80s was the decade when New Wave was big. I say New Wave is wimpy music – but I consider a lot of it to sound awesome, so I’m cool with that. Which brings me to Jian Ghomeshi’s memoir 1982 – a book that is entirely focused on recounting that year of a fourteen-year-old teenage Ghomeshi’s life.

I must mention that before he was fired from the CBC (for physically harming numerous female lovers) I was actually a fan of Ghomeshi’s radio show Q. Well, I should emphasize that Q was an entertainment show – so most of the show was Ghomeshi interviewing celebrity musicians, celebrity actors/actresses, and celebrity authors. Q was definitely NOT the show to go to for your daily news, NOR for any kind of insightful news analysis. And Ghomeshi’s interviews, no matter who the guest was – were always softball. It must be emphasized – Ghomeshi put a lot of effort into having a public image as a “nice guy”, whose flattering interview style was the sort most celebrities craved. And even though we later learned almost everything Ghomeshi would say during a typical episode of Q was scripted by his staff (whom Ghomeshi was bullying, harassing, and working their fingers to the bone) it still resulted, for me, in an enjoyable radio show. I especially looked forward to Ghomeshi’s weekly segment where he would have comedienne Elvira Kurt on Q – they were quite hilarious together.

All that said, while reading 1982, it became embarrassingly apparent that Ghomeshi and I are fans of a lot of the same music. And writing about music (mostly by name dropping musicians he was fond of) encompasses most of the content in 1982. However, if you are looking for any kind of insightful thoughts/analysis about music – you will get NONE of that in 1982 (but I can’t offer a single insightful thought about music either, so I’m one to to talk). That is the main reason I’m convinced 1982 was written by Ghomeshi and not a member(s) of his Q staff.

When 1982 was first published, I recall many user reviews on Amazon.ca (before Ghomeshi’s sex scandals) posted by loyal fans of Q – and the gist of their feedback was “I love Jian and Q, but this is the most terribly written book I’ve ever read”. When you begin reading 1982, you may be tempted to think “OK, Ghomeshi’s goal was to write a book that APPEARS to have been written by a teenager (and not a 45-year-old man).” But as you read more of the book, you realize that would be giving Ghomeshi too much credit. Ghomeshi isn’t as bad a writer as I heard – but he IS genuinely bad, and a vapid one at that. For instance, he spends almost three pages talking about lawn sprinklers in the suburbs. There are also unbelievable quotes like this:

1. “The wire that was attached to the telephone receiver was called a ‘phone cord’.”
2. “But water didn’t come in bottles in the 1980s. It came from taps.”
3. “Eggs were cool in the ’70s and early ’80s.”

In quotes #1 and #2, Ghomeshi shows he thinks his millennial readers have no concept of civilization before social media. In those two quotes, he’s NOT trying to be funny – he’s being unnecessarily explanatory. As for quote #3 – I have no idea what the intent behind THAT was.

In closing, 1982 is a dull book that could only have been written by a sociopath and narcissist. Since 1982 ends as a cliffhanger, it’s clear Ghomeshi intended to burden the World with another memoir. That’s one book that would’ve been overqualified for a book burning. Ⓐ