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Mordecai: The Life & Times
Foran's book is the first major biography with access to family letters and the definitive, detailed, intimate portrait of Mordecai Richler, the lion of Canadian literature, and the turbulent, changing times that nurtured him. It is also an extraordinary love story that lasted half a century.
Mordecai Richler won multiple Governor General's Literary Awards, the Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, among others, as well as many awards for his children's books. He also wrote Oscar-nominated screenplays. His influence was larger than life in Canada and abroad. In Mordecai , award-winning novelist and journalist Charles Foran brings to the page the richness of Mordecai's life as young bohemian, irreverent writer, passionate and controversial Canadian, loyal friend and deeply romantic lover. He explores Mordecai's distraught childhood, and gives us the "portrait of a marriage"—the lifelong love affair with Florence, with Mordecai as beloved father of five. The portrait is alive and intimate—warts and all.
Mordecai Richler won multiple Governor General's Literary Awards, the Giller Prize, the Commonwealth Writers' Prize, among others, as well as many awards for his children's books. He also wrote Oscar-nominated screenplays. His influence was larger than life in Canada and abroad. In Mordecai , award-winning novelist and journalist Charles Foran brings to the page the richness of Mordecai's life as young bohemian, irreverent writer, passionate and controversial Canadian, loyal friend and deeply romantic lover. He explores Mordecai's distraught childhood, and gives us the "portrait of a marriage"—the lifelong love affair with Florence, with Mordecai as beloved father of five. The portrait is alive and intimate—warts and all.
800 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2010
11 people are currently reading
161 people want to read
About the author
Charles Foran
17 books8 followersCharlie Foran was born and raised in Toronto. He holds degrees from the University of Toronto and the University College, Dublin, and has taught in China, Hong Kong, and Canada.
He has published eleven books, including five novels. His fiction, non-fiction, and journalism have all won awards.
Charlie has also made radio documentaries for the CBC program Ideas and co-wrote the TV documentary Mordecai Richler: The Last of the Wild Jews. A past president of PEN Canada, he is a senior fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto, and a member of the Order of Canada.
As of January, 2015, Charlie Foran is CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC). He lives in Toronto with his family.
He has published eleven books, including five novels. His fiction, non-fiction, and journalism have all won awards.
Charlie has also made radio documentaries for the CBC program Ideas and co-wrote the TV documentary Mordecai Richler: The Last of the Wild Jews. A past president of PEN Canada, he is a senior fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto, and a member of the Order of Canada.
As of January, 2015, Charlie Foran is CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC). He lives in Toronto with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
January 4, 2016
It's been quite some time since I've given a 5 star rating. In fact, Denis Beckett correctly scolded me a couple of years ago for handing out stars where they didn't belong - Hemingway comes to mind - I will admit he was correct, generally. Mordecai is much more than a biography - it's about a time and a place, and most of all, it's a glimpse into the lives of many of my favourite authors. Richler is one of my favourites and I have always admired his ability to see the big picture - apart from being very funny, he also had a gift for understanding the dangers of nationalism - he took no prisoners and in doing so paid a reasonably heavy price. Charles Foran's book is a wonderful tribute to a man of immense talent.
December 17, 2010
This was one of the best biographies that I have read in a couple of years. The book was very well researched and I certainly learned a lot about our famous author. Mordecai was certainly a complex man, with strong opinions which he always had the courage to share, and very compasionate with his friends. Once he befriended you, you were a friend and confidante for life.
March 21, 2014
This biography was a very detailed encounter with a complex individual. At times the minutiae of the events that shaped Mordecai Richler was almost overwhelming and although it was meant to help the reader understand this bigger than life personality it made it somewhat difficult to enjoy.
In the unfolding of the story, it did make me want to re-read some of the novels that I already enjoyed but with a different outlook and appreciation for what appears in the novel and what was happening in Mordecai Richler's life.
I purchased one of the Jacob Two-Two's novel for Christmas for my grand-daughter as I would like her to begin appreciating one of our colourful and significant Canadian author.
In the unfolding of the story, it did make me want to re-read some of the novels that I already enjoyed but with a different outlook and appreciation for what appears in the novel and what was happening in Mordecai Richler's life.
I purchased one of the Jacob Two-Two's novel for Christmas for my grand-daughter as I would like her to begin appreciating one of our colourful and significant Canadian author.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 21, 2013
This deeply interesting, beautifully calibrated biography of Mordecai Richler's gargantuan life as post-colonialist Jewish Montrealer, satiric novelist and devoted family man is what every Canadian (Montrealers in particular,)needs to read.Charles Foran has written a huge, intensely enjoyable, densely-detailed page-turner. And thank goodness he did! Because it's an indelible monument to not only a giant of Canadian letters, but also to fifty plus years of fast-paced development in Canadian culture and literature in particular. A marvelous read!
June 19, 2011
This is among the finest biographies that I have read. Foran has produced a "warts and all" account of an important literary life. Reading this spurred me to finally read some of the writer's earliest works which I had previously discounted.
October 23, 2023
Mordecai Richler was one of Canada's greatest writers( certainly the funniest) and he has benefited from being described and enshrined in a fine biography by Charles Foran. Where ever he lived- Spain, France, England or Montreal- Richler never left St Urbain St and his novels of Montreal Jewry are a lasting tribute to time and place. He delighted in lacerating the hypocrisy of humankind and if he was sometimes cruel, he was always honest.Foran not only skillfully describes this larger than life author, he also describes the literary and film life of London of the 1950s-60s, and New York and Hollywood of the 1970s-2000.Difficult and grumpy to many, Richler was passionately in love with wife Florence and a proud and engaged father to his five gifted children.This complex and talented author deserves a great biography and Charles Foran has delivered one,
October 3, 2017
For the true Richler fan. The novel comprehensively traces his entire life from birth until death, and makes exhaustive use of personal letters and Richler archives. I highly recommend it.
December 5, 2017
A very well researched biography into a Canadian literary icon. The amount of detail is astounding.
November 11, 2016
Very good.....kept my interest to the end
April 10, 2011
This book took a long time to read. The author provides detail after detail about Mordecai Richler's life. For a while I was on a 10 page a day regimen just to get through because, either through my lack of knowledge or just a plain lack of interest in Richler's letters written, friendships gained and lost and travel adventures it was just plain, hard reading.
But then the book actually got more interesting, at least, if not more exciting. Richler's approach to the separatist movement in Quebec, the language laws, etc. were perhaps more familiar to me and therefore of greater interest.
It is clear throughout the book that Richler is a brilliant man, an outstanding writer, a smitten, devoted husband and a loving and loved father. His wife, Florence, is beautiful at a young age and dazzling as she ages. In fact in order to ensure that the reader understands these points Foran repeats them ad nauseum.
And this gets in the way.
Foran reports on critics' view that Richler doesn't create women characters with much depth or dimension. But he doesn't seem to hear that criticism in his own portrayal of Florence. She is the adored, beautiful wife whose cooking is preferred by her husband. She compensates for her husband's reticence and possibly brutish social behaviour by being charming and we hear repeatedly that she is Richler's first and best editor.
I can't believe she is so shallow. I do believe Richler was an intelligent man that immersed himself in stimulating and intelligent environments. Florence must have been more than the dutiful housewife as she is portrayed in this book. I want to hear more of Florence's story as she traveled through their very interesting life.
Lastly the author portrays Richler as a man of Montreal - that is a given. But in some ways Foran gives us Richler as THE Canadian author.
There is very little in Richler's work that portrays prairie life, that portrays east or west coast sensibilities or for that matter Jewish life in those areas of Canada. To be a Jew in Regina is certainly not the same as being a Jew from Montreal. And although Selkirk Avenue in Winnipeg can be seen, in a way, as similar to The Main or St. Urbain, they are, in fact, not the same. The experiences were different, the characters were different and they deserve their own chroniclers
But then the book actually got more interesting, at least, if not more exciting. Richler's approach to the separatist movement in Quebec, the language laws, etc. were perhaps more familiar to me and therefore of greater interest.
It is clear throughout the book that Richler is a brilliant man, an outstanding writer, a smitten, devoted husband and a loving and loved father. His wife, Florence, is beautiful at a young age and dazzling as she ages. In fact in order to ensure that the reader understands these points Foran repeats them ad nauseum.
And this gets in the way.
Foran reports on critics' view that Richler doesn't create women characters with much depth or dimension. But he doesn't seem to hear that criticism in his own portrayal of Florence. She is the adored, beautiful wife whose cooking is preferred by her husband. She compensates for her husband's reticence and possibly brutish social behaviour by being charming and we hear repeatedly that she is Richler's first and best editor.
I can't believe she is so shallow. I do believe Richler was an intelligent man that immersed himself in stimulating and intelligent environments. Florence must have been more than the dutiful housewife as she is portrayed in this book. I want to hear more of Florence's story as she traveled through their very interesting life.
Lastly the author portrays Richler as a man of Montreal - that is a given. But in some ways Foran gives us Richler as THE Canadian author.
There is very little in Richler's work that portrays prairie life, that portrays east or west coast sensibilities or for that matter Jewish life in those areas of Canada. To be a Jew in Regina is certainly not the same as being a Jew from Montreal. And although Selkirk Avenue in Winnipeg can be seen, in a way, as similar to The Main or St. Urbain, they are, in fact, not the same. The experiences were different, the characters were different and they deserve their own chroniclers
January 17, 2013
If you’re Canadian—and perhaps if you’re not—you no doubt recognize that this is a biography (“unauthorized, of course”) of one of Canada’s foremost ‘men of letters’, Mordecai Richler. It’s a rich, multi-layered story of a man whose life was the same – and who lived it large and controversially.
The knowledge I gained will add immensely to my reading of his novels since, essentially, he wrote his life. It also makes me want to reread the two of his works that I’ve already covered.
My only complaint is that at 704 pages, it was a little overlong. What to cut? Perhaps the explanations of the plots of each of his books.
Mordecai won several awards including the Canadian Governor-General’s Award for Non-Fiction and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.
Read this if: you’ve read or are going to read any of Richler’s novels; or if you would like some insights into the birth of Canadian publishing of Canadian material (CanLit). 4 stars
The knowledge I gained will add immensely to my reading of his novels since, essentially, he wrote his life. It also makes me want to reread the two of his works that I’ve already covered.
My only complaint is that at 704 pages, it was a little overlong. What to cut? Perhaps the explanations of the plots of each of his books.
Mordecai won several awards including the Canadian Governor-General’s Award for Non-Fiction and the Charles Taylor Prize for Literary Non-Fiction.
Read this if: you’ve read or are going to read any of Richler’s novels; or if you would like some insights into the birth of Canadian publishing of Canadian material (CanLit). 4 stars
April 12, 2011
At 700 plus pages,Mordecai is one formidable book but it is also a very evenhanded biography of one of Canada's richest writers, and an enthralling glimpse into what made Mordecai Richler the man and icon he became. While it is Mordecai's story, it is also the history of the evolution of modern day Quebec and the significance of the English speaking minority in the consequences of the Quiet Revolution. While Richler left his beloved Montreal time and again, there was a lure to his roots that was magnetic and despite his huge output as a journalist and novelist, it is the Montreal Jewish books (Duddy/Gursky/Barney) that will endure. This was a book that was well worth the time it took to read.
January 11, 2014
At the end of this remarkable biography, I felt like I had lost a friend and my place in his world, so immersed was I in the story of Mordecai Richler's life and all the lives that life had touched.
Charles Foran's biography is rich and thorough and at times, deeply nuanced in its non-judgmental recounting of Richler's blunt, combative nature. Although I've admired Richler's work and his power as a writer, I have not always loved his characters or his portrayal of Montreal. Mine is a much more forgiving nature.
Foran unties the thorny knots of Richler's relationships - with family (particularly his mother), friends, editors, publishers and Quebec. In doing so, he reveals events, the cultures and the people that helped shaped the man the way waves shape a rocky shore.
Charles Foran's biography is rich and thorough and at times, deeply nuanced in its non-judgmental recounting of Richler's blunt, combative nature. Although I've admired Richler's work and his power as a writer, I have not always loved his characters or his portrayal of Montreal. Mine is a much more forgiving nature.
Foran unties the thorny knots of Richler's relationships - with family (particularly his mother), friends, editors, publishers and Quebec. In doing so, he reveals events, the cultures and the people that helped shaped the man the way waves shape a rocky shore.
February 15, 2016
I can't say enough good things about this biography. I very much admired Mordecai Richler as a writer and a person of strong character. He was born the same year as my Dad and I know my father identified with Richler's references to comic books and shared cultural icons of their time. This was biography at its best - warts and all, and endorsed by Richler's family. I was weeping at the end of the book and was touched throughout at the honesty, bravery thoughtfulness and hutzpah of this unique Canadian. I very much miss his perspective on life, as I miss my father's.
July 24, 2011
What an incredibly long slog. Had to leave it and read several other books before I could get back to it. Well written, but way too much detail,e specially since Mordecai is such a dyspeptic character.
January 18, 2011
Excellent
February 6, 2011
see my review on The Rover: http://roverarts.com/2010/12/mordecai...
September 11, 2011
Makes me sad knowing there won't be another epic Richler novel. Also makes me want to re-read them all.
October 2, 2012
Fascinating. Quite the ladies man! Went on a bit too long, but good to read about a Canadian cultural icon.
April 2, 2012
Very thorough. I'll give it five stars even though it might have had almost too much detail. Nevertheless, an engaging read, with insight into a successful literary career.
January 20, 2022
Continuing my new obsession with Mordecai Richler...
August 17, 2015
A complex and brilliant book about a complex and brilliant man.
July 30, 2018
A flawed, but efficient biography. Well regarded, and sufficient until a better one is written.
Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews