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Nino Ricci’s Trudeau biography stands out because it is one of the first to be written by someone from the generation after Trudeau. Ricci admits that he argued to author this biography because he wanted to unpack the man from the icon he grew up with. And it’s a good thing he prevailed.

The narrative is thoroughly researched. While Ricci presents few stories, details, or theories about Trudeau’s legacy that haven’t been told elsewhere, he provides a surprisingly comprehensive biography in perhaps the shortest number of pages ever devoted to a Trudeau book.

Ricci’s signature style is evident, and his own insights peppered throughout the text are enjoyable. Personal, human, and generous, Ricci attempts to make us believe that underlying all the complexities and contradictions of Trudeau’s character, deep down he was a more modest, reserved, and cautious character than the legend we’ve created — that he was really more like us.

But Ricci can’t quite close that case. That would mean accepting that Trudeau was not larger than life. Ricci doesn’t really believe that — or want to — so he fails in the ultimate challenge of separating the man from the myth. Yet that doesn’t detract one bit from this very readable recollection of a man whose long shadow is cast across so much of present-day Canadian life.