The Smiling Land

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
One of the Tyee’s 2025 Holiday Reads
One of CBC’s 45 Canadian Nonfiction Books to Read This Fall

Praise for Alan Doyle:

“Doyle is exuberant, irreverent, hilariously funny, and a heart-on-the-sleeve Newfoundlander. As a writer, he’s all that and a bag of chips… . In his own words: Deadly.” —Michael Crummey, bestselling author of The Adversary and The Innocents

“Doyle’s effortless storytelling will have you on his side from the first page. He writes like he sings: with a sincerity and a love of life that is infectious.” —Mark Critch, comedian and author of Son of a Critch

“What amazes me is, for all he has seen and done, Alan Doyle has never put another human being down. You won’t be able to put him down either. You will get lost on his account. Lost on a brilliant journey.” —Ron MacLean, host of Hockey Night in Canada

“Doyle has an eye for details, an ear for a good story and a well-honed ability to play out a yarn of his own.” —Atlantic Books

“Doyle is an engaging and gifted storyteller who has penned laugh-out-loud, insightful, heartwarming, and enjoyable tale.” —Winnipeg Free Press

“If you’re lucky enough to have spent any time with Alan, then you may have heard one or two of these stories before. If you haven’t, [his] book is the next best thing.” —Ed Robertson, of Barenaked Ladies

“Doyle [is] a master storyteller in a land rich in that resource. … From the first time I laid eyes on him, Alan’s been that guy, the funny, charming dude cursed with charisma, with the talent to back it up. [His] book gives great insight into that super-talented, creative and insightful mind of a true entertainer.” —Perry Chafe, co-creator/writer of Republic of Doyle

“Alan Doyle the writer, like Alan Doyle the person, is charming, funny, a natural storyteller who can be sweet without sliding into sentimentality, who can be honest without tumbling into dark­ness.” —Stephen Brunt, author of Gretzky’s Tears: Hockey, Canada and the Day Everything Changed

Alan Doyle is a Canadian musician, actor, writer, and Member of the Order of Canada. His albums as a solo artist and as front man for the Newfoundland Celtic rock band Great Big Sea have sold over a million copies. He has starred in such features as Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood and CBC’s Republic of Doyle. He has written four books, Where I Belong, A Newfoundlander in Canada, All Together Now, and The Smiling Land, all of which are national bestsellers. He has recently co-written and starred in a box-office-breaking stage musical, Tell Tale Harbour. Alan lives in St. John’s, Newfoundland.

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