Mordecai Richler Biography Quotes 10 Report mistakes

Early Life and Education
Mordecai Richler was born on January 27, 1931, in Montreal, Quebec, into a Yiddish-speaking Jewish family rooted in the Saint Urbain Street neighborhood that would later furnish the raw material of much of his fiction. His father, Moses (Moishe) Richler, worked in the trade of the small businesses that sustained the district, and his mother, Lily (nee Rosenberg), was the daughter of Rabbi Yehudah Yudel Rosenberg, a learned scholar and storyteller whose legacy of narrative and argument left a mark on his grandson. Richler attended Baron Byng High School, a crucible for many young Montrealers of immigrant background, and briefly enrolled at Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University) before leaving without a degree. Restless and determined to write, he departed for Europe while still in his twenties, dividing his time between Paris and, increasingly, London.

Apprenticeship and First Novels
Richler's first novel, The Acrobats (1954), drew on his experiences among expatriates and artists and announced a voice unwilling to flatter either bohemia or bourgeois respectability. Son of a Smaller Hero (1955) turned to the Montreal Jewish community, portraying its conflicts with a candor that scandalized some readers and thrilled others. A Choice of Enemies (1957) widened his purview to the Cold War anxieties and moral evasions of writers and intellectuals. From the outset, his prose favored satire edged with moral seriousness, and his characters were driven by ambition, appetite, and a rough pragmatism that would become a Richler hallmark.

Breakthrough and Montreal as Myth
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959) was his breakthrough, a kinetic novel about a hustler propelled by hunger and charm through mid-century Montreal. It compressed family pressures, class tensions, and the pull of success into a narrative that made Duddy an enduring figure in Canadian literature. The story returned Richler to the streets and schools of his youth and established Saint Urbain Street as a mythic landscape. Years later, Richler co-wrote the screenplay for the acclaimed 1974 film adaptation directed by Ted Kotcheff and starring Richard Dreyfuss, which carried his Montreal to international audiences.

Satire, London Years, and Major Recognition
While maintaining ties to Montreal, Richler spent much of his most productive period in London, where the publishing and journalistic worlds provided a sparring ground well suited to his temperament. The Incomparable Atuk (1963), a sharp fable about cultural exploitation, was followed by Cocksure (1968) and St. Urbain's Horseman (1971), both of which won Governor General's Awards and solidified his reputation for unbuttoned comedy trained on vanity, hypocrisy, and exile. He wrote steadily for magazines and newspapers in Canada and abroad, directing his critical eye at cultural fashions and political pretensions.

Later Novels and International Standing
Joshua Then and Now (1980) braided show business, politics, and memory, while Solomon Gursky Was Here (1989) expanded his canvas into a multi-generational saga of commerce, migration, and myth; it was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and widely hailed for its ambition. Barney's Version (1997), narrated by the cantankerous and unforgettable Barney Panofsky, won the Giller Prize and became his late-career popular triumph, testifying to the undimmed vitality of his comic voice.

Essays, Journalism, and Public Debate
Richler's essays, collected in volumes such as Hunting Tigers Under Glass and Notes on an Endangered Species, showcased a polemicist who relished the jab and the joke but insisted on an ethical throughline. Oh Canada! Oh Quebec! (1992), his best-known work of nonfiction, took aim at Quebec's language policies and nationalist politics. The book provoked a fierce reaction from some Quebec intellectuals and politicians and a spirited defense from admirers who valued his insistence on individual liberties and skepticism toward orthodoxy. In Canada he wrote frequently for publications like Maclean's and Saturday Night; in Britain he contributed to a range of periodicals, bringing the same blend of irreverence and clarity to journalism that animated his fiction.

Screenwriting and Adaptations
Beyond Duddy Kravitz, Richler adapted Joshua Then and Now (1985) for the screen, and after his death his work continued to find new audiences, notably through the 2010 film adaptation of Barney's Version. His screenwriting sharpened his already taut dialogue and helped circulate his characters and Montreal settings far beyond Canada.

Children's Literature
Richler also created the Jacob Two-Two books, beginning with Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (1975). Inspired by family life and named for his son Jacob, the series displayed a gentler comic sensibility while retaining his ear for authority, injustice, and the small insurgencies of childhood. The books became staples in Canadian children's literature and introduced a new generation to his narrative wit.

Personal Life and Working Relationships
Richler married Florence Richler, whose steady presence and editorial acumen were widely acknowledged in his circle. Their family included Daniel Richler, his stepson and a broadcaster, and their children Martha, Emma, Noah, and Jacob, all of whom pursued creative and journalistic callings. In Canada his principal publisher and champion was Jack McClelland of McClelland & Stewart, a legendary figure who helped bring Richler's work to national prominence and supported him through controversies and creative droughts. In Montreal's literary milieu he intersected with figures from successive generations, and although he prized privacy and independence, he thrived on argument and convivial debate.

Final Years and Legacy
In his final years Richler spent increasing time in Montreal, writing steadily even as he battled illness. He died there on July 3, 2001, of cancer. He had by then received major national honors, including appointment to the Order of Canada, and was widely regarded as one of the country's central novelists. His legacy rests on a body of work that gave Canada a bracing, comic, and unsentimental self-portrait; that widened the scope of Jewish-Canadian writing; and that sharpened public discourse through polemics that refused easy consensus. Sustained by the collaboration and companionship of Florence Richler and by a family of working artists and journalists, and nurtured by publishers, filmmakers like Ted Kotcheff, and a host of editors and actors who brought his characters to life, Mordecai Richler left a literature of appetite and argument that continues to provoke, delight, and endure.

Our collection contains 10 quotes who is written by Mordecai, under the main topics: Witty One-Liners - Writing - Book - Mortality - Sarcastic.