Talk:My Discovery of America

What was in the dossier?

Someone with current access to Mowat's account should expand on what he had to say as to why "he was barred due to an old security dossier supplied to the USA by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police."

Notability

I'm kind of surprised the redirect was made without any discussion. One of the criteria for notability is the prominence of the author, ensuring the notability of all that author's books. Given that Farley Mowat is undoubtedly one of Canada's most prominent authors, I wonder if that might be enough to ensure notability for this article. Certainly, Mowat's life and work has been the regular subject of study and even the subject of a documentary film. Moreover, this was surely subject to multiple reviews and independent media coverage when it was released, which would demonstrate notability under the 1st criteria at WP:NB. - TheMightyQuill (talk) 17:52, 8 May 2014 (UTC)

Paging Dr. Mies... --kelapstick^(bainuu) 18:33, 8 May 2014 (UTC)

Well, if we had to discuss everything we would never get to have lunch or take naps. The article has been unreferenced for almost ten years, and that the author is a big shot and the book therefore most likely notable doesn't mean it should have a standalone article. You are more than welcome to revert me and add the kinds of things you say are available. Please note also that I stuck to only one of his books, which I picked at random, and didn't go perusing through the rest to see what else I could mess with. Thank you, Drmies (talk) 18:56, 8 May 2014 (UTC)

That's because most of his books are redlinked anyway Doc. --kelapstick^(bainuu) 19:40, 8 May 2014 (UTC)

Thanks for your response, Drmies. I certainly didn't mean to suggest that you were acting in bad faith. I'm confused by your statement "that the author is a big shot and the book therefore most likely notable doesn't mean it should have a standalone article." By my reading of item 5 at WP:NB, that's exactly what it means:

"The book's author is so historically significant that any of his or her written works may be considered notable. This does not simply mean that the book's author is him/herself notable by Wikipedia's standards; rather, the book's author is of exceptional significance and the author's life and body of written work would be a common subject of academic study."

My understanding that "notability" for wikipedia's purposes, means that it deserves its own article. Maybe I've misunderstood something. Best, TheMightyQuill (talk) 21:15, 9 May 2014 (UTC)

That means people such as Shakespeare, Darwin, etc. Mowat isn't that historically significant and I am quite sure that his life and body of work is not a common subject of academic study. Dougweller (talk) 08:21, 17 May 2014 (UTC)