RISING TO POWER: PAUL DESMARAIS AND POWER CORPORATION. Greber, Dave. Toronto, Methuen. 1987. 299pp. cloth, $24.95. ISBN 0-458-81190-4. CIP Grades 10 and up Reviewed by David Chadwick Volume 16 Number 4 1988 July Paul Desmarais is without doubt the most successful French Canadian businessman of the last twenty years. Indeed, he may be the most successful individual corporate star of Canadian business of recent times. Beginning with a small bus company in Sudbury, Desmarais had built, through a series of clever mergers and buy-outs, an empire that was worth some $650 million by 1987. At sixty-one, Desmarais runs an empire centred in finance. Through Power Financial Corporation he owns a number of large conglomerates and powerful companies including The Great-West Life Assurance Co., Montreal Trustee, Consolidated-Bathurst, Canada Steamship Lines, communications companies including La Presse, and many others. At various times he came close to owning Argus Corporation and Abitibi-Price. This is a fairly dry story and not one that will grab the average reader's attention. The fact that Greber was not authorized to write the book and could not interview Desmarais has a lot to do with the book's appearing to be compiled from business page newspaper clippings. Rising to Power is not a lively biography, nor is it the final word on Desmarais. David Chadwick, Winnipeg, Man.