Mark Critch talks about the books that built him

If you're a Canadian with a funny bone, or a Newfoundlander of any sort, you probably know of Mark Critch, a CBC personality, comedian and actor.

He is a host of This Hour Has 22 Minutes and the author of Son of a Critch, An Embarrassment of Critches, and Sorry, Not Sorry: An Unapologetic Look at What Makes Canada Worth Fighting For.

Critch joined Antonio Michael Downing on The Next Chapter to talk about the books that "knit" him, a Newfoundland expression that he said can refer to things that develop a person's behaviour or interests.

My Autobiography by Charlie Chaplin

Critch's first selection was Charlie Chaplin's autobiography, titled My Autobiography. Critch said that he became fascinated by Chaplin as a kid because a local channel used to play movies from its catalogue by request, and "one of the only fun things it had was a Charlie Chaplin film."

What he found most powerful about this autobiography, Critch said, was that Chaplin started his life "in complete, abject, horrible poverty with his mother in a workhouse, his father gone, and he and his brother begging on the streets and put in work houses themselves." But Chaplin still went on to become, arguably, the most famous person of his time.

Critch said that he knew Chaplin as the tramp character from his silent films, but reading his book at 11 or 12 years old, Critch learned so much more about the man himself, including Chaplin's expulsion from the United States for his political views.

Learning about the poverty that Chaplin grew up in showed Critch "that there is no limit on what you can do and where you can go," he said.

Naked by David Sedaris

Critch's second choice was Naked by David Sedaris. Critch said that he found the book while searching for Sedaris's first title, Barrel Fever, which he'd heard recommended by Andy Richter from the Conan O'Brien show.

In the book, Sedaris writes about his mother's passing, addressing the incredibly dark time with humour.

"He just paints beautifully with the colours of the personalities of the people in his life," Critch said. "No matter how dark or no matter how shocking some of it is, there's a sweetness and a humanity to it that is a real leveling ground. He's like a gold standard for me in writing."

Critch says it was Sedaris who inspired him to write his own book of essays, Sorry, Not Sorry.

"When I think back on the book, I just think of the way he wrote of his family and the the picture he paints," he said. He went on to credit Sedaris for much of the inspiration behind his own show, Son of a Critch, a semi-autobiographical sitcom based on Critch's childhood.

Soldier Priest by Gary Browne and Darrin McGrath

Critch's next pick was Soldier Priest: In the Killing Fields of Europe by Guy Browne and Darrin McGrath, which he describes as a recent book about a very old Newfoundland story.

The book tells the story of Father Thomas Nangle, a Catholic priest from St. John's who became a chaplain in the Newfoundland Regiment during the First World War.

"It was this ragtag group who thought they'd be home by Christmas," said Critch. "Many of these young men were encouraged and sold the story of going to fight the war by this guy…."

Within an hour of their deployment in the Battle of Beaumont-Hamel, almost 800 Newfoundlanders were killed.

A generation of our best and our brightest are gone in an hour.- Mark Critch

"A generation of our best and brightest are gone in an hour," Critch said.

"They were kind of forced forward, impossible to win, into this barrage of machine-gun fire from the Germans. These guys coming through a little cut in the wire and almost like a triangle moving forward. And they're just being mowed down."

The book explores the effect this had on Father Nangle.

The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein

Critch's final pick was The Missing Piece by Shel Silverstein, which tells the story of a circular shaped character with a "missing piece," that serves as a mouth but prevents the character from being a full circle.

"Some people would think it's a kid's book. I think it's a book that everyone should read."

In it the main character "is rolling along looking for the missing piece to complete it. When it finds the missing piece, it puts it his mouth, but realizes it can't do the things that could do before and has to put it down and roll on."

Critch saw something he could relate to in the book. "I found my missing piece, my wife Melissa," he said. "But I did a lot of rolling over the years."

"I'm comfortably a square now," Critch said. "I've stopped rolling, thank God, because I get pretty dizzy."

I'm comfortably a square now. I've stopped rolling, thank God, because I get pretty dizzy.- Mark Critch

Quotations have been edited for length and clarity.