Mordecai Richler (original) (raw)

Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 - July 3, 2001) was a Canadian author, scriptwriter, and essayist. Born and raised in the Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, he attended Sir George Williams University (now Concordia University). In his early years he lived and wrote in England but returned to Canada in 1972.

He was the author of ten novels; including Barney's Version (1997), Solomon Gursky Was Here (1989), Cocksure (1968), and The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959), as well as numerous screenplays, essays, children's books like the Jacob Two-Two series, and several works of non-fiction. His most recent book is On Snooker. A selection of essays, Dispatches from the Sporting Life, that was completed before his death, was published in June 2002.

Winner of the Commonwealth Writers Prize. He was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2001, only a few months before his death.

Awards:

• 1969 Governor General's Award for Cocksure.
• 1972 Governor General's Award for St. Urbain's Horseman.
• 1974 Screenwriters Guild of America Award for Best Comedy for screenplay of The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz.
• 1976 Canadian Library Asssociation Book of the Year for Children Award: Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.
• 1976 Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award for Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang.
• 1995 Mr. Christie's Book Award (for the best English book age 8 to 11) for Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case.
• 1997 - The Giller Prize for Barney's Version.
• 1998 - Canadian Booksellers Associations "Author of the Year" award.

Fiction:

• The Acrobats (1954) also released as Wicked We Love (July 1955)
• Son of a Smaller Hero (1955)
• A Choice of Enemies (1957)
• The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (1959)
• The Incomparable Atuk (1963)
• Cocksure (1968)
• The Street (1969)
• St. Urbain's Horseman (1971)
• The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz [screenplay] (1974)
• Joshua Then and Now (1980)
• Joshua Then and Now [screenplay] (1985)
• Solomon Gursky Was Here (1989)
• Barney's Version (1997)
• Fiction for young adults:
• Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang (1975)
• Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur (1987)
• Jacob Two-Two and the Great Spy Case

Travel

• Images of Spain (1977)
• This Year In Jerusalem (1994)

Essays

• Hunting Tigers Under Glass: Essays and Reports (1968)
• Shovelling Trouble (1972)
• Notes on an Endangered Species and Others (1974)
• The Great Comic Book Heroes and Other Essays (1978)
• Home Sweet Home: My Canadian Album (1984)

Broadsides

• Belling The Cat

Nonfiction

• Oh Canada! Oh Quebec!

Anthologies

• The Best of Modern Humor
• Writers on World War II

See also: List of other novelists, List of Quebec authors