Joshua Then and Now

by Mordecai Richler

Overview

Joshua Then and Now is about Joshua Shapiro today, and the Joshua he was. His father a boxer turned honest crook, his mother an erotic dancer whose greatest performance was at Joshua’s bar mitzvah, Joshua has overcome his inauspicious beginnings in the Jewish ghetto of Montreal to become a celebrated television writer and a successful journalist. But Joshua, now middle-aged, is not a happy man. Incapacitated by a freak accident, anguished by the disappearance of his WASP wife, and caught up in a sex scandal, Joshua is besieged by the press and tormented by the ghosts of his youth. Set in Montreal, the novel chronicles the rocky journey we all make between the countries of the past and the present. Raucous, opinionated, tender, Joshua Then and Now is a memorable excursion into Mordecai Richler's comic universe.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781551995601
Publisher:	McClelland & Stewart
Publication date:	12/31/2010
Sold by:	Random House
Format:	eBook
Pages:	496
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Mordecai Richler was born in Montreal, Quebec, in 1931. Raised there in the working-class Jewish neighbourhood around St. Urbain Street, he attended Sir George Williams College (now a part of Concordia University). In 1951 he left Canada for Europe, settling in London, England, in 1954. Eighteen years later, he moved back to Montreal.

Novelist and journalist, screenwriter and editor, Richler, one of our most acclaimed writers, spent much of his career chronicling, celebrating, and criticizing the Montreal and the Canada of his youth. Whether the settings of his fiction are St. Urbain Street or European capitals, his major characters never forsake the Montreal world that shaped them. His most frequent voice is that of the satirist, rendering an honest account of his times with care and humour.

Richler’s many honours include the Giller Prize, two Governor General’s Awards, and innumerable other awards for fiction, journalism, and screenwriting. He died in Montreal in 2001.

Editorial Reviews

What I admire especially about Joshua Then and Now is that Mr. Richler never permits his comic shticks to run away with his story.... all in all Joshua Then and Now is a remarkable bittersweet accomplishment. Its slapstick and pathos blend artfully to make a wine of unique flavor.
—The New York Times

Christopher Lehmann-Haupt

A richly comic satire in the best uninhibited Richler tradition, full of sharp jabs and ticking bombs.…”
–Globe and Mail

“A superb work, a rowdy, roistering tour de force.…It’s Richler the Irreverent at the height of his powers.”
–Calgary Herald

"Full of splendid writing.…Funny, compassionate, ambitious, perceptive and rich in character.…Richler has unflagging comic energy.”
–Chicago Tribune

"Wildly funny.”
–Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22

"A thoroughly enjoyable, exhilarating read.”
–Times Literary Supplement

From the Publisher