Comments (15)

What did you think about this title?
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Sep 27, 2023trailhr rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
Insufferable protagonist and a plodding storyline.
Jul 16, 2022gilljak rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Richler at his final and very best.
Apr 08, 2021toor22 rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Mordecai Richler's tale where we, as the readers, cannot trust everything the protagonist says and must ourselves "Is Barney Panofsky outright lying, forgetting what happened, exaggerating for his own benefit, or telling us the…
Feb 18, 2020dirtbag1 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
Hilarious in parts, I love this guy's work. Richler tells a great story.
Mar 28, 2017stewstealth rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
A politically incorrect memoir(fictional) of an insecure person recounting his life before the on set of dementia. Very satirical and at times witty. The narrative is a bit choppy to fit the premise of the book. Good characterizations…
Aug 28, 2015jazpur rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is not an easy book to read because it has been presented as though written through flashbacks by an elderly man with the onset of dementia. Barney has had a very colourful life and 3 wives. His son has supplied corrective footnotes…
Dec 07, 2014WVMLStaffPicks rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Barney is an infuriating, loveable curmudgeon who has loved and lost three wives, possibly murdered his best friend and driven himself to drink. Wickedly funny, politically incorrect, Richler has created his most personable and passionate…
StevenJonKaplan
Jan 26, 2014StevenJonKaplan rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
In my opinion, this is one of Mordecai Richler's best books, partly because you are encouraged to empathize with a character who has many serious flaws, and partly because the author deals with his own aging self.
Feb 09, 2012jmikesmith rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Presented as a first-person memoir by the title character, Barney Panofsky, this book struck me as a bit uneven. Well-written and entertaining for the most part, the structure and lack of a plot made it slow at times. Barney has written…
Feb 01, 2012vwruleschick rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
This is my first Richler book, I did not enjoy it much as the characters (main and supporting) were not likeable or transferable to myself, the reader. Though I thought the son's editing was an interesting twist on the reading aspect.…
Jul 16, 2011Lindsaybanfield rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Liked this book, start was slow and hard to follow, perhaps it was Barney's dementia. Richler is a superb writer and the twists of the plot were great. Sometimes the curmugeon aspects were hard to take but once I got past that I enjoyed…
May 06, 2011jbeckber rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I was expecting the same sort of witty banter as Joshua Then and Now, and unfortunately that's pretty much what I got. I guess I wasn't expecting so many of the same elements to be there. I only got half way through this one and had to…
Mar 12, 2011kellymbuck rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
This is a great novel. The character couldn't be more alive. I loved it.
Jan 04, 2011debwalker rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Film version just released at Christmas 2010. "Mordecai Richler created a terminally vulgar, selfish man-child of a protagonist in the original novel, about the titular curmudgeon who stomps through life racking up many emotional…
Dec 08, 2009hunter rated this title 2 out of 5 stars
skimmed