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Belling The Cat
Following the success of the #1 bestseller and Giller Prize-winner Barney's Version, an irresistible and timely collection of the best of Mordecai Richler's recent essays.
Mordecai Richler is not only a great novelist - he is also our best essayist, regularly offending some deeply, endearing himself mightily to others, and always entertaining. The Toronto Star calls him "mercilessly observant, funny, caustic and irreverent". To paraphrase Alberto Manguel in The Sunday Times - "Like Dr. Johnson at his insulting best, Mordecai at the top of his form is unsurpassed."
Here we have his take on many unforgettable Canadians, heroes, and sinners, including Gretzky, Eddie Quinn and Pete Rose; we see him give a final skewering to his hated quarry, Brian Mulroney (but the NDP leadership fares little better); Woody Allen does not escape, but for Saul Bellow he has warm admiration and his tribute to Gordie Howe is as fond as it is thoughtful; he brings to life London in the 50s and leaves us with life in the Eastern Townships today. He is a storyteller even in his essays, and these are memorable for his character sketches, his sharp ear for dialogue, his unblinkered view of events. Like all great satirists, Richler cares passionately about the society in which we live; it's that love of country, as much as his love of sanity and common sense and his hatred of sacred cows, that underlies these essays.
Mordecai Richler is not only a great novelist - he is also our best essayist, regularly offending some deeply, endearing himself mightily to others, and always entertaining. The Toronto Star calls him "mercilessly observant, funny, caustic and irreverent". To paraphrase Alberto Manguel in The Sunday Times - "Like Dr. Johnson at his insulting best, Mordecai at the top of his form is unsurpassed."
Here we have his take on many unforgettable Canadians, heroes, and sinners, including Gretzky, Eddie Quinn and Pete Rose; we see him give a final skewering to his hated quarry, Brian Mulroney (but the NDP leadership fares little better); Woody Allen does not escape, but for Saul Bellow he has warm admiration and his tribute to Gordie Howe is as fond as it is thoughtful; he brings to life London in the 50s and leaves us with life in the Eastern Townships today. He is a storyteller even in his essays, and these are memorable for his character sketches, his sharp ear for dialogue, his unblinkered view of events. Like all great satirists, Richler cares passionately about the society in which we live; it's that love of country, as much as his love of sanity and common sense and his hatred of sacred cows, that underlies these essays.
340 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
3 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
Mordecai Richler
87 books370 followersWorking-class Jewish background based novels, which include
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
(1959) and
Saint Urbain's Horseman
(1971), of Canadian writer Mordecai Richler.
People best know Barney's Version (1997) among works of this author, screenwriter, and essayist; people shortlisted his novel Solomon Gursky Was Here (1989) for the Man Booker Prize in 1990. He was also well known for the Jacob Two-two stories of children.
A scrap yard dealer reared this son on street in the mile end area of Montréal. He learned Yiddish and English and graduated from Baron Byng High School. Richler enrolled in Sir George Williams College (now Concordia University) to study English but dropped before completing his degree.
Years later, Leah Rosenberg, mother of Richler, published an autobiography, The Errand Runner: Memoirs of a Rabbi's Daughter (1981), which discusses birth and upbringing of Mordecai and the sometime difficult relationship.
Richler, intent on following in the footsteps of many of a previous "lost generation" of literary exiles of the 1920s from the United States, moved to Paris at age of 19 years in 1950.
Richler returned to Montréal in 1952, worked briefly at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and then moved to London in 1954. He, living in London meanwhile, published seven of his ten novels as well as considerable journalism.
Worrying "about being so long away from the roots of my discontent", Richler returned to Montréal in 1972. He wrote repeatedly about the Jewish community of Montréal and especially portraying his former neighborhood in multiple novels.
In England in 1954, Richler married Catherine Boudreau, a French-Canadian divorcée nine years his senior. On the eve of their wedding, he met Florence Wood Mann, a young married woman, who smited him.
Some years later, Richler and Mann divorced and married each other. He adopted Daniel Mann, her son. The couple had five children together: Daniel, Jacob, Noah, Martha and Emma. These events inspired his novel Barney's Version.
Richler died of cancer.
People best know Barney's Version (1997) among works of this author, screenwriter, and essayist; people shortlisted his novel Solomon Gursky Was Here (1989) for the Man Booker Prize in 1990. He was also well known for the Jacob Two-two stories of children.
A scrap yard dealer reared this son on street in the mile end area of Montréal. He learned Yiddish and English and graduated from Baron Byng High School. Richler enrolled in Sir George Williams College (now Concordia University) to study English but dropped before completing his degree.
Years later, Leah Rosenberg, mother of Richler, published an autobiography, The Errand Runner: Memoirs of a Rabbi's Daughter (1981), which discusses birth and upbringing of Mordecai and the sometime difficult relationship.
Richler, intent on following in the footsteps of many of a previous "lost generation" of literary exiles of the 1920s from the United States, moved to Paris at age of 19 years in 1950.
Richler returned to Montréal in 1952, worked briefly at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and then moved to London in 1954. He, living in London meanwhile, published seven of his ten novels as well as considerable journalism.
Worrying "about being so long away from the roots of my discontent", Richler returned to Montréal in 1972. He wrote repeatedly about the Jewish community of Montréal and especially portraying his former neighborhood in multiple novels.
In England in 1954, Richler married Catherine Boudreau, a French-Canadian divorcée nine years his senior. On the eve of their wedding, he met Florence Wood Mann, a young married woman, who smited him.
Some years later, Richler and Mann divorced and married each other. He adopted Daniel Mann, her son. The couple had five children together: Daniel, Jacob, Noah, Martha and Emma. These events inspired his novel Barney's Version.
Richler died of cancer.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
July 7, 2014
Bastard gets it right.
August 24, 2019
This is a howlingly funny collection of essays on subjects diverse and disparate by Canada's late wag-in-chief, the Jewish anglophone Quebecer, raconteur, novelist, and commentator on all matters Canadian, great and small, Mordecai Richler. I knew Richler's name of course, primarily from The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, but had not read that novel nor any of Richler's other works, so I was delighted to find that his talent for the bon mot was at least as good, if not better, than his reputation suggested. Example? When unwillingly engaged in conversation by a drunken Texan while doing a 1994 piece on that erstwhile Vegas-in-the-Transvaal, Sun City, Richler's urbanity eventually provokes the hapless Texan into asking the married, decidedly heterosexual father of five, "Are you gay or something?", to which Richler replied, "both." Voila! Unwanted conversation ended.
September 6, 2011
Heard a reading from the book by Richler in Toronto and was hooked. Treasure this autographed copy.
July 14, 2023
Collection of his magazine articles, from book reviews, to travel writing, to sports and politics. This volume was published just two years before he passed away.
I enjoyed it. It helps me with some of the Canadian cultural and political recent-past that I am missing as an immigrant to Canada.
So, he was certainly not sensitive to women's issues - although neither does he sound like a mysogynist. He likes Saul Bellow - who I came to dispise - and he clearly did not have a clue about who Mollie Katzen or Jared Diamond are/were. But he was clearly smart, a good writer, and a keen observer of people. I found this a pleasure to read. And he referred to a book by Flaubert that I am tempted to hunt down: "Flaubert in Egypt: A Sensibility Tour". Who knew? Certianly, not I.
I enjoyed it. It helps me with some of the Canadian cultural and political recent-past that I am missing as an immigrant to Canada.
So, he was certainly not sensitive to women's issues - although neither does he sound like a mysogynist. He likes Saul Bellow - who I came to dispise - and he clearly did not have a clue about who Mollie Katzen or Jared Diamond are/were. But he was clearly smart, a good writer, and a keen observer of people. I found this a pleasure to read. And he referred to a book by Flaubert that I am tempted to hunt down: "Flaubert in Egypt: A Sensibility Tour". Who knew? Certianly, not I.
October 30, 2017
Makes my top 10 list for favourite books to dive into.
With ease Mordecai Richler captivates the reader into meaty essays mixed with his wiry humor and personal rants that would otherwise be painful to get through.
The cover is also such an iconic well thought-out design, with a great sepia toned photographic portrait. The glossy relief also takes the whole design to another level.
With ease Mordecai Richler captivates the reader into meaty essays mixed with his wiry humor and personal rants that would otherwise be painful to get through.
The cover is also such an iconic well thought-out design, with a great sepia toned photographic portrait. The glossy relief also takes the whole design to another level.
April 30, 2024
i fear i dont love richler enough to read this boring collection of essays but maybe one day
November 2, 2025
He was a smooth writer with an honest prose. This book of essays and opinions is a page turner. His way of telling stories brings readers wanting more mainly for the elements of truth that transpire from his writings. He told things the way they were.
June 8, 2014
This collection of Richler's non-fiction writing is a treasure trove of acerbic wit, righteous indignation and no-holds-barred opinions. Whether the topic is travel, sports or politics Richler is simply a joy to read.
May 27, 2014
For hardcore Richler fans only. Witty but obscure.
March 21, 2015
Witty, educational, enjoyable.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews