Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Library Binding)

by Mordecai Richler (Author) "WHAT WITH HIS WIFE SO ILL THESE PAST FEW WEEKS and the prospect of three more days of teaching before the weekend break, Mr. MacPherson..." (more)
Key Phrases: man without land, health handicap, Uncle Benjy, Boy Wonder, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Duddy Kravitz sits alone in its urbanity, energy, relevance, direction and raw talent."
-"Toronto Star"
"It burgeons with its special talent and vulgar vitality."
-"Chicago Tribune"
"Richler Ýis one of North America's most powerful novelists."
-"Washington Times"
"Richler has been praised highly for his clear-eyed vision and his realistic style. This novel will confirm that estimate... the total effect is brash and blatant as a sports car rally - and as suggestive of power."
-"New York Times Book Review"
"There can be no doubt of ÝRichler's prodigal talent."
-"Times Literary Supplement"

"From the Trade Paperback edition." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review
The Washington TimesIt is time to recognize Mr. Richler as one of North America's most powerful novelists.

Chicago TribuneA rasping humor pervades the book....It burgeons with its special talent and a vulgar vitality.

The Washington TimesA fast-moving, entertaining, and bawdy novel.

Los Angeles TimesFunny in the biting, subversive manner of Joseph Heller and Philip Roth.

Minneapolis Star TribuneDuddy Kravitz [is] Richler's most famous creation.

The New York Times Book ReviewRichler has been praised for his clear-eyed vision and his realistic style.... The total effect is as brash and blatant as a sports car rally -- and as suggestive of power.

Alfred Kazin It comes off brilliantly. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Young Adult
  
• Library Binding
• Publisher: Topeka Bindery (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613170873
• ISBN-13: 978-0613170871
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #6,942,942 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars a sad/funny look at an over-achieving flim-flam man (boy), December 12, 2002

By	lazza (Fort Lauderdale, Florida) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

This review is from: Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Mass Market Paperback)

Mordecai Richler is certainly one of Canada's best novelists. His caustic sense of humour, his self-deprecating look at life, and his sometimes thinly disguised autobiographical stories are always memorable. Imagine Joseph (Catch-22) Heller being from Montreal and you have Mordecai Richler.

Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is one of Richler's earlier and better known (..thanks to the 1970s film adaptation) works. The story centers around a young Jewish teenager (Duddy), a very abrasive and aggressive boy, striving to make money in order to buy land (thinking, like his grandpa, that if you don't own land you ain't nuttin'). So Duddy gets into a strange, and hilarious, film-making business. His pushy and obnoxious behaviour both appalls and endears everyone he meets; I too was appalled and endeared. By the end of the book I felt I knew (but didn't like) Duddy.

While I did enjoy 'Duddy Kravitz' I have to say it certainly isn't Richler's best effort. I suggest Barney's Version, written some 30 years later, which demonstrates the author's abilities at his peak.

Bottom line: an endearing story of a lost youth in Montreal circa 1950. Fondly memorable.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An Exilerating Novel, June 30, 2000

By	David Earl Bruhn (Honolulu, HI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Paperback)

This book is fast paced, vulgar, funny, and human. The world of Duddy Kravitz--an extraordinary Jewish teenager in Montreal in the 1940's--may sound very far removed from our lives, but very few things I have read have struck me as being so irresistably recognisable as life. It would be to deny yourself an immense pleasure not to read this book. Certain chapters are as classic as things we remember from great 19th century literature.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A story of losts with no gains, November 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (Paperback)

The story is about Duddy Kravitz and his determination to become a "somebody" by doing whatever it takes. This St. Urban Street boy follows blindly under one value, the only value, he receives from his childhood - a man without land is nobody. Duddy schemes and dreams to acheive his own property, not afraid to exploit others along the way for his own ends. This book portrays the evils of great ambition as Duddy's success is also his downfall in life. His lost of love and other means cost him greater than any money can buy.