The Alley Cat [Mass Market Paperback]

Yves Beauchemin (Author), Kenneth Radu (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1994

First published in Quebec in 1981, Beauchemin’s highly acclaimed comic masterpiece of storytelling follows in the tradition of the great novels of the 19th century.

When Florent Boissonneault comes to the aid of an accident victim, his life changes forever. One onlooker, the powerful and sinister Egon Ratablavasky, comes to haunt his ambitions and dreams, lurking behind his every opportunity, success, and failure. Finally, obsessed by a need to free himself, Florent discovers how to fight back.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Dickensian characters, social satire a la Balzac and gratuitous vulgarity have propelled this second novel by a Canadian writer to sales of over one-million copies worldwide. American readers, however, are likely to find the darkly comic adventures of its picaresque hero much too unsophisticated for their tastes. Florent Boissonneault is a young Montrealer whose life is enriched, then plagued, by an old man purporting to be his benefactor. When the mysterious Egon Ratablavasky offers Florent the means to realize his ambition as a restaurateur, the ebullient Florent is at first elated but quite soon terrified at Ratablavasky's power. A strange and pungent odor (sulphur?) always accompanies Ratablavasky's appearances, underscoring his resemblance to the devil. The plot progresses through one slapstick event after another, in which Florent gains and loses his restaurant, his home, his health and good spirits, his means of livelihoodand almost his sanity, his hoped-for family and his wife. Ratablavasky, often referred to as "the stinking alley cat," and a real, tiger-striped alley cat named Breakfast, owned by an alcoholic urchin of six, finally confront each other in a less-than-credible scene at the novel's resolution. The French-Canadian flavor of this narrative, its broadly limned satire and panoply of eccentric characters do not compensate for the novel's flat and rambling peregrinations. Author tour.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 552 pages
• Publisher: New Canadian Library (April 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0771034512
• ISBN-13: 978-0771034510
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,490,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant epic novel from Quebec, July 19, 1999

By 

Alan Scheer - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alley Cat (Mass Market Paperback)

From the first line of this novel you will be hooked. This book is passionate, compassionate, humorous, grotesque, bizarre and epic in every regard. The language zips along with wonderful ingenuity and the characters are magnificent. An earlier reviewer mentioned two brilliant characters, but there are many, many other memorable characters in this wonderful book. Up until the last five pages of this very large novel, you are held wondering how it will all end. A great novel worthy in tribute to such luminous writers as Dickens or Thackery. You will roll on the floor laughing, and you will hold your breath at some of the more tragic moments. One of my favourite novels of all time. A great read.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this great literary artifact!, May 4, 2000

By 

belladena - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Alley Cat (Mass Market Paperback)

The Alley Cat is a book that is altogether encouraging, discouraging, and a funny, poignant tale of learning to stand on your own two feet.

I loved and hated each character, because their good and bad traits were so vividly described by Beauchemin. Monsieur Emile and Ratablavasky are by far the two greatest characters created in Canadian Lit, if not Lit altogether. What a great story.

Modern-day Dostoevsky Beauchemin is! His writing is filled with urban decay and human foibles, modernized and made funnier. Read this!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Read this great literary artifact!!, November 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Alley Cat (Mass Market Paperback)

The Alley Cat is a book that is altogether encouraging, discouraging, and a funny, poignant tale of learning to stand on your own two feet. I loved and hated each character, because their good and bad traits were so vividly described by Beauchemin. Monsieur Emile and Ratablavasky are by far the two greatest characters created in Canadian Lit, if not Lit altogether. What a great story. Modern-day Dostoevsky, Beauchemin is! His writing is filled with urban decay and human foibles, modernized and made funnier. Read this!!!