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The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz [Paperback]

Mordecai Richler
4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)

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Book Description

March 1, 1999
From Mordecai Richler, one of our greatest satirists, comes one of literature's most delightful characters, Duddy Kravitz -- in a novel that belongs in the pantheon of seminal twentieth century books.

Duddy -- the third generation of a Jewish immigrant family in Montreal -- is combative, amoral, scheming, a liar, and totally hilarious. From his street days tormenting teachers at the Jewish academy to his time hustling four jobs at once in a grand plan to "be somebody," Duddy learns about living -- and the lesson is an outrageous roller-coaster ride through the human comedy. As Richler turns his blistering commentary on love, money, and politics, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz becomes a lesson for us all...in laughter and in life.


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Editorial Reviews

Review

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

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

The Washington Times A fast-moving, entertaining, and bawdy novel.

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

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

The New York Times Book Review Richler 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.

From the Inside Flap

The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is the novel that established Mordecai Richler as one of the world?s best comic writers. Growing up in the heart of Montreal?s Jewish ghetto, Duddy Kravitz is obsessed with his grandfather?s saying, ?A man without land is nothing.? In his relentless pursuit of property and his drive to become a somebody, he will wheel and deal, he will swindle and forge, he will even try making movies. And in spite of the setbacks he suffers, the sacrifices he must make along the way, Duddy never loses faith that his dream is worth the price he must pay. This blistering satire traces the eventful coming-of-age of a cynical dreamer. Amoral, inventive, ruthless, and scheming, Duddy Kravitz is one of the most magnetic anti-heroes in literature, a man who learns the hard way that dreams are never exactly what they seem, even when they do come true. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 384 pages
  • Publisher: Gallery Books; Reprint edition (March 1, 1999)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0671028472
  • ISBN-13: 978-0671028473
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.5 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #364,527 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 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
Format: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.

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars An Exilerating Novel June 30, 2000
Format: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.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars ..., that's all the band could play... January 28, 1999
By A Customer
Format:Paperback

I enjoyed this book.

While the first two or three chapters are not really needed in the novel, I found the character of Duddy Kravitz repulsive but strangely satisfying as a character. Cliched my ass. Okay, Max, Jerry Dingleman and Lennie are cliched, but you also get Virgil the epileptic, John Friar the Americommunist filmmaker, Yvette the "Girl Friday" who holds Duddy's land for him, and of course, you have the anti-Semitic Scot Mr. Macpherson. Sure it may sound cliched, but this was written 40 years ago. Cliches have come from this line of writing.

I may be a masochist but it's FUUUN to see Kravitz screw and be screwed. And Richler knows how to write a book. In my opinion, it may be nothing new, but at least it's nothing bad.....

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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars A Canadian Classic
Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz is the best known novel by one of Canada's preeminent authors. In Duddy, Mordecai Richler has created an unforgettable character. Read more
Published 10 hours ago by A. Gallagher
5.0 out of 5 stars The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
Sometimes quite hilarious. Good story that takes place in the Jewish sector of Montreal. You have to love Duddy, the kind-heartd rebel.
Published 5 months ago by Helene De Celles
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book
I fell upon this one through one of my English classes. Honestly it's a great book. The protagonist, Duddy, seems as vile as any other villainous character, but one must try to see... Read more
Published 16 months ago by David
3.0 out of 5 stars Do we really need two of these?
Duddy Kravitz is a story very very close to Budd Schulberg's earlier work, What Makes Sammy Run? The main difference is that Shulberg went on to tell much better stories (the films... Read more
Published on July 20, 2010 by RaDadIndy
5.0 out of 5 stars One of The Best from Richler
This is a good book, whether you have seen the movie or not. As a point of reference, I have read all of Richler's major works and a few of his early novellas. Read more
Published on December 13, 2007 by J. Robinson
5.0 out of 5 stars The Best (most controversial,honest &funny)novel in the history of...
I love everything about this novel;it's hilarious,controversial and culturally accurate;I think both the novel and film are excellent-and I can't decide whether I prefer the book... Read more
Published on June 14, 2006 by Brian Schiff
5.0 out of 5 stars Mandatory Reading...
Duddy is a book about ambition. Each and every one of us wants more... Why else would we be on the internet looking for books to buy? Read more
Published on February 22, 2006 by P. Robinson
3.0 out of 5 stars Richler hadn't yet reached his peak
For an example of what this author can really do, read "Barney's Version."

It seems that Richler specializes in making dislikeable characters (see Terry MacIver in... Read more
Published on October 26, 2005 by Lemas Mitchell
5.0 out of 5 stars A searing classic novel about the hidden costs of discounting the...
Written by a two-time recipient of the Governor General's Award, The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz is a searing classic novel about the hidden costs of discounting the welfare of... Read more
Published on July 5, 2005 by Midwest Book Review
2.0 out of 5 stars Bildungsromanovitz
Yes, here we have the classic Bildungsroman, or coming-of-age-story, that constitutes a (ahem, normally) delightful genre of literature. Read more
Published on July 5, 2005 by Daniel Myers
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