Chronicling the experiences of one of this country’s greatest “scribblers” – novelist, essayist, journalist, and screenwriter, Mordecai Richler – would seem an enviable task for a contemporary Canadian author.

Roxana Shirazi’s story is one of unadulterated sexual excess. She’s been pissed on by Avenged Sevenfold, knocked up by Dizzy Reed and she’s fucked three-quarters of Buckcherry.

The travesty, says journalist Andrew Nikiforuk, is it costs the country three barrels of fresh water from the Athabasca River and two tons of earth to get one barrel of bitumen out of the Alberta tar sands.

Author Maxine Hyndman emphasizes the importance of acquiring wealth, while maintaining whealth, “a life that’s lived in alignment with one’s values, one’s greater purpose and one’s beliefs.”

Hart strains to sign autographs, writing with a right hand that moves lethargically. The effects of the stroke he suffered a few years back are evident. He looks a little lost, like a dyslexic third grader trying to read fine print.