Mordecai Richler,
CCThe Order of Canada is an honour for merit that is, within the Canadian system of honours, the highest such order administered by the Governor General-in-Council, on behalf of the Queen of Canada. Created in 1967, to coincide with the centennial of Canadian...
(January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a
CanadianCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
author, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and essayist. A leading critic called him "the great shining star of his Canadian literary generation" and a pivotal figure in the country's history. His best known works are
The Apprenticeship of Duddy KravitzThe Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is the fourth novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It was first published in 1959 by André Deutsch, then adapted to the screen 1974 as film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.-Plot and setting:...
,
Barney's VersionBarney's Version is a novel written by Canadian author Mordecai Richler, published by Knopf Canada in 1997.-Plot summary:The story is written in the style of an autobiography of Barney Panofsky, and recounts his life in varying detail...
, and the
Jacob Two-TwoJacob Two-Two is the central character in a series of children's books, Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang , Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur and Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case written by Mordecai Richler, and Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas written by Cary Fagan.Jacob is the youngest child of...
children's stories. Richler's uncompromising opinions on contemporary Canada easily matched, and sometimes exceeded, the
satiricalSatire is often strictly defined as a literary genre or form; although in practice it is also found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, human or individual vices, follies, abuses, or shortcomings are held up to censure by means of ridicule, derision, burlesque, irony, or other methods,...
sting of his fiction.
Early years and travel
The son of a scrapyard dealer, Richler was born and raised on
St. Urbain StreetSt. Urban Street is a major one-way street located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The street has historically been home to Montreal's well-established Jewish community, who settled in the area at the turn of the twentieth century. Writer Mordecai Richler often documents what life was like on this...
in the
Mile EndMile End is a neighbourhood and municipal electoral district in the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada.Mile End is part of the Plateau-Mont-Royal borough in terms of Montreal's municipal politics...
area of
MontrealMontreal is the second-largest city in Canada and the largest city in the province of Quebec. Originally called Ville-Marie , the city takes its present name from Mont-Royal, the triple-peaked hill located in the heart of the city, whose name was also initially given to the island on which the...
,
QuebecQuebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, a neighbourhood he would later immortalize in his novels. He graduated from
Baron Byng High SchoolBaron Byng High School was located at 4251 St. Urbain Street, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was named after the Julian Hedworth George Byng, 1st Viscount Byng of Vimy, the Governor General of Canada from 1921 to 1926. Byng was a World War I hero at the battle of Vimy Ridge, an important battle...
. Richler then enrolled in Sir George Williams College (now
Concordia UniversityConcordia University is a comprehensive public university located in Montreal, Canada, one of the city's two universities whose primary language of instruction is English...
) to study English but dropped out before completing his degree. He moved to
ParisParis is the capital of France and the country's most populous city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
,
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
at age nineteen, intent on following in the footsteps of a previous generation of literary exiles, the so-called
Lost GenerationThe "Lost Generation" is a term coined by author and poet Gertrude Stein to characterize a general motif of disillusionment of American literary notables who lived in Paris and Europe after the First World War. Figures identified with the "Lost Generation" included authors and artists such as...
of the 1920s. Richler returned to Montreal in 1952, working briefly at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, then moved to
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
,
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1954. Worrying "about being so long away from the roots of my discontent", he returned to Montreal in 1972, but continued to spend part of each year in London.
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Richler's career took off with the publication of his fourth novel
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz in 1959. The book featured a frequent Richler theme: Jewish life in the 1930s and 40s in the neighbourhood of Montreal east of
Mount Royal ParkMount Royal is a mountain in the city of Montreal, immediately north of downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada, the city to which it gave its name.The mountain is part of the Monteregian Hills situated between the Laurentians and the Appalachians...
on and about St. Urbain Street and the Main (Boul. St. Laurent). Richler wrote poignantly of the neighbourhood and its people, chronicling the hardships and disabilities they faced as a Jewish minority.
To a middle-class stranger, it is true, one street would have seemed as squalid as the next. On each corner a cigar store, a grocery, and a fruit man. Outside staircases everywhere. Winding ones, wooden ones, rusty and risky ones. Here a prized lot of grass splendidly barbered, there a spitefully weedy patch. An endless repetition of precious peeling balconies and waste lots making the occasional gap here and there.
The 1974
movie versionThe Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is a 1974 Canadian comedy-drama film directed by Ted Kotcheff; based on the 1959 novel of the same name by Mordecai Richler.-Plot:...
was directed by Richler's friend
Ted KotcheffTed Kotcheff , sometimes credited as William Kotcheff or William T. Kotcheff, is a Canadian film and television director , who is well known for his work on several high-profile British television productions and as a director of films such as First Blood.-Early life:Kotcheff was born William...
and starred
Richard DreyfussRichard Stephen Dreyfuss is an American actor best known for starring in a number of films, television and theater roles since the late 1960s. He is probably best known for his roles in the films Jaws, The Goodbye Girl, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Always, Mr...
in his first leading role. Richler and
Lionel ChetwyndLionel Chetwynd is a Canadian-American screenwriter, motion picture and television film director and producer.-Life and career:...
co-wrote the screenplay.
Richler as commentator
Throughout his career, Richler wrote acerbic journalistic commentary and delighted in the role of contrarian provocateur. He was an iconoclast with little tolerance for pretense or pomposity. In a characteristic putdown, Richler called Canadian film entrepreneurs "snivelling little greasers on the make." Richler contributed to
The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic is an American magazine founded as The Atlantic Monthly in Boston in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. Though based in Boston, it quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and...
,
LookLook was a bi-weekly, general-interest magazine published in Des Moines, Iowa from 1937 to 1971, with more of an emphasis on photographs than articles. A large-size magazine of 11 by 14 inches, it was generally considered the also-ran to Life magazine, which began publication only months earlier...
, and
The New YorkerThe New Yorker is an American magazine of reportage, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry published by Condé Nast Publications...
. In his later years, Richler was a newspaper columnist for
The National Post and Montreal's
The GazetteThe Gazette is a title of several newspapers and magazines, including:-English newspapers:*The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada*The Gazette, Chicago, Illinois, United States*The Gazette, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States...
. He was often critical of Quebec and
Canadian nationalismCanadian nationalism is a term which has been applied to ideologies of several different types which highlight and promote specifically Canadian interests over those of other countries, notably the United States...
. Another favorite Richler target was the government-subsidized Canadian literary movement of the 1970s and 80s. Richler was made a Companion of the
Order of CanadaThe Order of Canada is an honour for merit that is, within the Canadian system of honours, the highest such order administered by the Governor General-in-Council, on behalf of the Queen of Canada. Created in 1967, to coincide with the centennial of Canadian...
in 2001, just a few months before his death.
Proponents and critics
Many critics distinguished between Richler the author and Richler the polemicist. Richler frequently said in interviews that his goal was to be an honest witness to his time and place, and to write at least one book that would be read after his death. His work was championed by journalists
Robert FulfordRobert Marshall Blount Fulford, O.C., is a Canadian journalist, magazine editor, and essayist. He lives in Toronto.-Personal life:...
and
Peter GzowskiPeter Gzowski, CC was a popular Canadian broadcaster, writer and reporter, most famous for his work on the CBC radio show Morningside. His biographer has argued that Gzowski's contribution to Canadian media must be considered in the context of efforts by a generation of Canadian nationalists to...
, among others. Admirers praised Richler for daring to tell uncomfortable truths, and he has been described in The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature as "one of the foremost writers of his generation". A 2004 oral biography by Michael Posner was entitled
The Last Honest Man.
Detractors called Richler's satire heavy-handed and noted his propensity for recycling material, incorporating elements of his journalism into later novels. Some critics thought Richler more adept at sketching striking scenes than crafting coherent narratives. Richler's ambivalent relationship with Montreal's Jewish community was captured in
Mordecai and Me, a book by
Joel YanofskyJoel Yanofsky is a Canadian novelist and literary columnist.Born in Montreal, Quebec, he grew up in the Laval suburb of Chomedey, where his parents had moved from the Montreal Jewish neighbourhood around St...
published in 2003.
Richler's most frequent conflicts were with the Jewish community, English Canadian nationalists, and Quebec nationalists.
Richler's long-running dispute with Quebec nationalists was fuelled by magazine articles he wrote in American publications between the late 1970s and mid 1990s. The articles criticized Quebec's language laws, and separatism. Critics took particular exception to Richler's allegations of anti-semitism.
In
The Atlantic MonthlyThe Atlantic is an American magazine founded as The Atlantic Monthly in Boston in 1857. It was created as a literary and cultural commentary magazine. Though based in Boston, it quickly achieved a national reputation, which it held for more than a century. It was important for recognizing and...
, around the time of the
first electionThe Quebec general election of 1976 was held on November 15, 1976 to elect members to National Assembly of the Province of Quebec, Canada. It was one of the most significant elections in Quebec history, rivalled only by the 1960 general election, and caused major repercussions in the rest of Canada...
of the
Parti QuébécoisThe Parti Québécois is a left-wing political party that advocates national sovereignty for the province of Québec and secession from Canada. It is a social democratic party and has traditionally had support from the labour movement. Unlike many other social democratic parties, its ties with the...
(PQ) in 1976, Richler linked the PQ to Nazism, by asserting that the theme song of the 1976 PQ campaign "À partir d'aujourd'hui, demain nous appartient" was a Nazi song, "Tomorrow belongs to me..." the chilling
Hitler YouthThe Hitler Youth was a paramilitary organization of the Nazi Party. It existed from 1922 to 1945. The HJ was the second oldest paramilitary Nazi group, founded one year after its adult counterpart, the Sturmabteilung .-Origins:The first NSDAP-related organization of German youth was the Jugendbund...
song from
CabaretCabaret is a musical with a book by Joe Masteroff, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and music by John Kander. The 1966 Broadway production became a hit and spawned a 1972 film as well as numerous subsequent productions....
. Neither the remainder of the text, nor the music, are related. Furthermore, the
Cabaret song, never sung in Nazi Germany, was written in the 1960s by
John KanderJohn Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb.-Biography:...
, a Jewish American lyricist and composer, not German fascists. "À partir d'aujourd'hui" was written by well-known songwriter
Stéphane VenneStéphane Venne is a French-Canadian songwriter and composer. He also worked as head of production for the Canadian arm of Barclay Records and as a radio station executive....
when he was asked to compose a song for an advertisement of the Caisses populaires Desjardins credit union. In
Oh Canada! Oh Quebec!, Richler acknowledges the error, blaming himself for having "cribbed" the information from an article by
Irwin CotlerIrwin Cotler, PC, OC, MP was Canada's Minister of Justice and Attorney General of Canada from 2003 until the Liberal government of Paul Martin lost power following the 2006 federal election. He was first elected to the Canadian House of Commons for the constituency of Mount Royal in a by-election...
and
Ruth WisseRuth R. Wisse is the Martin Peretz Professor of Yiddish Literature and Professor of Comparative Literature at Harvard University.Wisse is originally from Montreal, Canada and earned her PhD from McGill University in 1969. As a professor, Wisse has previously taught at McGill, Stanford, New York,...
for the Jewish American magazine
CommentaryCommentary is an American monthly magazine covering politics, international affairs, Judaism, and social, cultural, and literary issues.-History:...
. Co-writer of the
Commentary article Cotler eventually issued a written apology to Lévesque. Richler also apologized for the incident and called it an "embarrassing gaffe".
His views were strongly criticized by some in Quebec and to some degree among Anglophone Canadians. His detractors maintained that Richler had an outdated and stereotyped view of Quebec society, and that he risked polarizing relations between French and English. After the publication of
Oh Canada! Oh Quebec,
Pierrette VennePierrette Venne was a member of the Canadian House of Commons from 1988 to 2003. By career, she worked in law....
, a future
Bloc QuébécoisThe Bloc Québécois is a federal political party in Canada that defines itself as devoted to both the protection of Quebec's interests on a federal level as well as the promotion of its sovereignty...
MP called for the book to be banned. Daniel Latouche compared the book to
Mein KampfMein Kampf, in English: My Struggle, is a book by Adolf Hitler. It combines elements of autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's political ideology...
. Nadia Khouri believes that there was a racist undertone in some of the reaction to Richler, emphasizing that he was not "one of us" or that he was not a "real Quebecer" Additionally some passages were deliberately misquoted; a section in which he said that Quebec women were treated like "sows" was misinterpreted to suggest that Richler thought they were sows. Other French writers also thought there had been an overreaction, including Jean-Hugues Roy, Étienne Gignac, Serge-Henri Vicière, and Dorval Brunelle. His defenders asserted that Mordecai Richler may have been wrong on certain specific points, but was certainly not racist or anti-Québécois. Richler had always attacked nationalists, including English Canadians, Israelis and Zionists. Some Quebecers acclaimed Richler for his courage and for attacking the orthodoxies of Quebec society, and he has been described as "the most prominent defender of the rights of Quebec's anglophones."
The reaction to Richler's book itself raised concerns for some commentators about the persistence of antisemitism among sections of the Quebec population. He received death threats, including a threat to blow up the hospital in which he was staying, and letters with swastikas drawn on them; a Francophone journalist yelled at one of his sons that "if your father was here, I'd make him relive the holocaust right now!", while an editorial cartoon in the French press compared him to Hitler. The criticism that he wrote his essay on Quebec for money was seen as evoking old stereotypes of Jews, and the demands made for leaders of the Jewish community to dissociate themselves from Richler were seen as indicating that Richler, although born in Quebec and for a time married to a French-Canadian, was "not part of the tribe" because he was anglo and
Jewish.
Following
Jacques ParizeauJacques Parizeau, GOQ is an economist and noted Quebec sovereignist who was Premier of the province of Quebec, , from September 26, 1994 to January 29, 1996.-Biography:...
's comment on the day of the
1995 referendumThe 1995 Quebec referendum was the second referendum to ask voters in the Canadian province of Quebec whether Quebec should secede from Canada and become an independent state, through the question:...
, where the latter attributed the loss to "money and the ethnic vote", Richler created the "Impure Wool Society" which granted the "
Prix Parizeau" to a distinguished non-Francophone writer of Quebec. The group's name plays on the expression "québécois
pure laineThe French term pure laine , literally meaning pure wool , is a politically and culturally charged phrase referring to the people having original ancestry of the French-Canadians...
", typically used to refer to Québécois with extensive French-Canadian ancestry. The prize (with an award of $3000) was granted twice: Benet Davetian in 1996 for
The Seventh Circle, and
David ManicomDavid Alton Manicom is a Canadian diplomat, poet and novelist.Manicom was born in Ingersoll, Ontario and lived there until he attended the University of Toronto and McGill University. He has also lived in Ottawa, Moscow, Islamabad, Beijing, and Geneva...
in 1997 for
Ice In Dark Water.
Animator
Caroline LeafCaroline Leaf is a Canadian-American filmaker and animator.Leaf made her first film, Sand, or Peter and the Wolf, in 1968 at Harvard University. The short was made by dumping sand on a light box and manipulating the textures frame-by-frame.Her second film, Orfeo , had her painting directly on...
created an Academy Award-nominated animation in 1976 titled
The StreetThe Street is a collection of short stories by Mordecai Richler. It was originally published by McClelland and Stewart in 1969. The stories take place on Saint Urbain Street in Montreal.-Contents:*Introduction by Mordecai Richler*Going Home Again...
, based on Richler's 1969 short story of the same name.
Family life
Richler divorced Catherine Boudreault to marry his second wife, Florence. He adopted her son Daniel. The couple had five children, including:
- Daniel Richler
Daniel Richler is a Canadian arts and pop culture broadcaster and writer. He is the stepson of author Mordecai Richler.Born in London, England, his family moved back to his stepfather's hometown of Montreal when Daniel was 15...
- A longstanding figure in Canadian media and broadcasting, Daniel Richler has written a semi-autobiographical novel, Kicking Tomorrow (1991). The protagonist's father bears many similarities to Mordecai Richler.
- Emma Richler - author of a collection of linked short stories Sister Crazy (2001), which features a father modeled on her own. A novel, Feed My Dear Dogs was published in 2005.
- Jacob Richler
Jacob Richler is a Canadian newspaper and magazine journalist, and the son of novelist Mordecai Richler. He was the inspiration for his father's Jacob Two-Two trilogy of children's books....
- an author and columnist.
- Noah Richler
Noah Richler is a Canadian journalist, and the son of novelist Mordecai Richler. He is the author of This Is My Country, What's Yours? A Literary Atlas of Canada ....
- a journalist, radio producer and host, and author of This Is My Country, What's Yours? A Literary Atlas of Canada (2006).
- Martha Richler - a cartoonist who published a daily cartoon, most recently, in London's Evening Standard
The London Evening Standard is a free local daily newspaper, published in tabloid format in London, England. It is the dominant regional evening paper for London and the southeast of England, with coverage of national and international news and a strong emphasis on City of London finance...
, using the pen-name "Marf". Her cartoons are in the collection of the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, and the Charles Saatchi Collection. She also wrote the companion guide to Washington's National Gallery of ArtThe National Gallery of Art is a national art museum, located on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The museum was established in 1938 by the United States Congress, with funds for construction and a substantial art collection donated by Andrew W. Mellon plus major art works donated by Lessing J...
, A World of Art.
Leah Rosenberg, Richler's mother, published an autobiography,
The Errand Runner: Memoirs of a Rabbi's Daughter (1981), which discusses Mordecai's birth and upbringing.
Awards and recognition
- 1969 Governor General's Award
The Governor General's Awards are a collection of awards presented by the Governor General of Canada, marking distinction in a number of academic and artistic fields. The first was conceived in 1937 by John Buchan, Baron Tweedsmuir, a prolific author of fiction and non-fiction who created the...
for Cocksure and Hunting Tigers Under Glass.
- 1972 Governor General's Award for St. Urbain's Horseman.
- 1974 Screenwriters Guild of America Award for Best Comedy for screenplay of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.
- 1976 Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award: Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.
- 1976 Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award for Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.
- 1990 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Solomon Gursky was Here
- 1995 Mr. Christie's Book Award (for the best English book age 8 to 11) for Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case.
- 1997 The Giller Prize for Barney's Version.
- 1998 Canadian Booksellers Associations "Author of the Year" award.
- 1998 Stephen Leacock Award for Humour for Barney's Version
- 1998 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book (Canada & Caribbean region) for Barney's Version
- 1998 The QSpell Award for Barney's Version.
- 2000 Honorary Doctorate of Letters, McGill University
McGill University is a public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It bears the name of James McGill, a prominent Montreal merchant from Scotland, whose bequest formed the beginning of the university...
, Montreal, Quebec.
- 2001 Companion of the Order of Canada
- 2004 Number 98 on the CBC
The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation , a Canadian crown corporation, is the country’s national public radio and television broadcaster. In French, it is called la Société Radio-Canada...
's television show about great Canadians, The Greatest CanadianOfficially launched on April 5, 2004, The Greatest Canadian was a television program series by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to determine who is considered to be the greatest Canadian of all time, at least among those who watched and participated in the program...
- 2004 Barney's Version
Barney's Version is a novel written by Canadian author Mordecai Richler, published by Knopf Canada in 1997.-Plot summary:The story is written in the style of an autobiography of Barney Panofsky, and recounts his life in varying detail...
was chosen for inclusion in Canada Reads 2004Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC.-Overview:During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series...
, championed by authorAn author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created...
Zsuzsi GartnerZsuzsi Gartner is a Canadian author and journalist.Gartner was born in Winnipeg, moving to Calgary in early childhood. She earned a BA in political science at the University of Calgary, later receiving an honours degree in journalism from Carleton University in Ottawa and an MFA from the University...
.
- 2006 Cocksure
Cocksure is a novel by Mordecai Richler. It was first published in 1968 by McClelland and Stewart.A satirical work, the novel centres on Mortimer Griffin, a middle-class Anglican from Caribou, Ontario who has built a successful career as a publisher and editor in 1960s London, England...
was chosen for inclusion in Canada Reads 2006Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC.-Overview:During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series...
, championed by actor and author Scott ThompsonScott Thompson is a Canadian television comedian, best known for his time as a member of the comedy troupe Kids in the Hall.-Early life:...
- 2009 "Extraordinary Canadians: Mordecai Richler" is a book-length biography about Richler published by Penguin Canada and written by the acclaimed writer M.G. Vassanji.
- "Barney's Version
Barney's Version is a novel written by Canadian author Mordecai Richler, published by Knopf Canada in 1997.-Plot summary:The story is written in the style of an autobiography of Barney Panofsky, and recounts his life in varying detail...
" was also adapted to radio by the CBC
Fiction
- The Acrobats (1954) (also published as Wicked We Love, July 1955)
- Son of a Smaller Hero (1955)
- A Choice of Enemies (1957)
- The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is the fourth novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It was first published in 1959 by André Deutsch, then adapted to the screen 1974 as film The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.-Plot and setting:...
(1959)
- The Incomparable Atuk
The Incomparable Atuk is a satirical novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It was first published in 1963 by McClelland and Stewart. The novel was published as Stick Your Neck Out in the United States....
(1963)
- Cocksure
Cocksure is a novel by Mordecai Richler. It was first published in 1968 by McClelland and Stewart.A satirical work, the novel centres on Mortimer Griffin, a middle-class Anglican from Caribou, Ontario who has built a successful career as a publisher and editor in 1960s London, England...
(1968)
- The Street
The Street is a collection of short stories by Mordecai Richler. It was originally published by McClelland and Stewart in 1969. The stories take place on Saint Urbain Street in Montreal.-Contents:*Introduction by Mordecai Richler*Going Home Again...
(1969)
- St. Urbain's Horseman (1971)
- Joshua Then and Now
Joshua Then and Now is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Mordecai Richler, first published in 1980 by McClelland and Stewart. Richler adapted it into the feature film Joshua Then and Now, starring James Woods, Alan Arkin, and Gabrielle Lazure; directed by Ted Kotcheff who had previously...
(1980)
- Solomon Gursky Was Here
Solomon Gursky Was Here is a novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler first published by Viking Canada in 1989. It tells of several generations of the fictional Gursky family, said to have been inspired by the Bronfmans, who are connected to several disparate events in the history of Canada,...
(1989)
- Barney's Version
Barney's Version is a novel written by Canadian author Mordecai Richler, published by Knopf Canada in 1997.-Plot summary:The story is written in the style of an autobiography of Barney Panofsky, and recounts his life in varying detail...
(1997)
Fiction for children
- Jacob Two-Two
Jacob Two-Two is the central character in a series of children's books, Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang , Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur and Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case written by Mordecai Richler, and Jacob Two-Two on the High Seas written by Cary Fagan.Jacob is the youngest child of...
Meets the Hooded Fang (1975)
- Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur (1987)
- Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case (1995)
Essays
- Hunting Tigers Under Glass: Essays and Reports (1968)
- Shovelling Trouble (1972)
- Notes on an Endangered Species and Others (1974)
- The Great Comic Book Heroes and Other Essays (1978)
- Home Sweet Home: My Canadian Album (1984)
- Broadsides (1991)
- Belling the Cat (1998)
- Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! Requiem for a Divided Country
Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! Requiem for a Divided Country is a book by Canadian novelist Mordecai Richler. Published in 1992, it parodied the evolution of language policy in Quebec, and spoofed the Canadian province of Quebec's language laws that restrict the use of the English-language...
(1992)
- Dispatches from the Sporting Life (2002)
Anthologies
- Canadian Writing Today (1970)
- The Best of Modern Humour (1986) (U.S. title: The Best of Modern Humor)
- Writers on World War II - (1991)
Film scripts
- Life at the Top
Life At The Top is the third novel by the English author John Braine, first published in the UK by Eyre & Spottiswoode and in the US by Houghton Mifflin & Co. in 1962. It continues the story of the life and difficulties of Joe Lampton, an ambitious young man of humble origins...
(1965) (screenplay from novel by John BraineJohn Gerard Braine was an English novelist. Braine is usually associated with the Angry Young Men movement.-Biography:...
)
- The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (film) (1974) (Screenwriters Guild Award and Oscar screenplay nomination)
- The Street
The Street is a 1976 animated short by Caroline Leaf, based on a short story of the of same name by Mordecai Richler.Set on Saint Urbain Street in Montreal, the explores the reactions of Jewish family in the early 20th century to the death of a grandmother.Animated using paint on glass animation,...
(1976) http://www.nfb.ca/animation/objanim/en/films/film.php?sort=director&director=Leaf%2C+Caroline&id=10524 Oscar Nomination
- Fun with Dick and Jane (1977 film)
Fun with Dick and Jane is a 1977 film starring George Segal and Jane Fonda as an upper-middle-class couple who fall through the cracks of society in the United States and then become high-class thieves to get back all they lost. The comedy was directed by Ted Kotcheff and is caustically critical of...
(with David Giler & Jerry Belson, from a story by Gerald Gaiser)
- The Wordsmith (TV) (1979)
- Joshua Then and Now (film)
Joshua Then and Now is a 1985 film and a TV mini-series, adapted by Mordecai Richler from his semi-autobiographical novel Joshua Then and Now. James Woods starred as the adult Joshua, Gabrielle Lazure as his wife, and Alan Arkin as Joshua's father...
(1985)
- Barney's Version (film) (2010, in production, screenplay by Michael Konyves based on Richler novel) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1423894/
External links
- Ken Alexander, "Missing Mordecai", The Walrus
The Walrus is a Canadian general interest magazine which publishes long form journalism on Canadian and international affairs, along with fiction and poetry by Canadian writers. It launched in September 2003, as an attempt to create a Canadian equivalent to American magazines such as Harper's, The...
, June 2005
- Mordecai Richler's entry in The Canadian Encyclopedia
- Yiddish phrases & cultural references in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
- CBC Digital Archives: Mordecai Richler Was Here
- Obituary of Richler
- Literary biography of Richler
- Obituary by Robert Fulford
Robert Marshall Blount Fulford, O.C., is a Canadian journalist, magazine editor, and essayist. He lives in Toronto.-Personal life:...