Son of a Smaller Hero is a novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler

Mordecai Richler

Mordecai Richler, CC was a Canadian Jewish author, 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 Kravitz, Barney's Version,...

, first published in 1955 by André Deutsch

André Deutsch

André Deutsch was a British publisher.After having learned the business of publishing working for Francis Aldor with whom he was interned in the Isle of Man during the Second World War and who had introduced him to the industry, André Deutsch left Aldor's employment after a few months to continue...

. One of Richler's earliest works, it displays an earnest and gritty realism in comparison to his somewhat more satirical later novels. It is sometimes assigned reading for high school English classes in Canada.

Plot and setting

The novel is set in Montreal

Montreal

Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...

, Canada. The story centers around the working-class Jewish neighborhood on Saint Urbain Street

Saint Urbain Street

St. Urbain 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 20th century. Writer Mordecai Richler often documents what life was like on this street...

, a locale Richler would revisit often in subsequent writings. The protagonist is Noah Adler, a young and driven idealist who rebels against the entrenched cultural and social divides in the city.