Joshua Then and Now (1980)

by Mordecai Richler

Other authors: Eric Wright (Afterword)

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Members	Reviews	Popularity	Average rating	Mentions
436	6	57,952	(3.8)	12
Joshua Then and Now is about Joshua Shapiro today, and the Joshua he was. His father a boxer turned honest crook, his mother an erotic dancer whose greatest performance was at Joshua's bar mitzvah, Joshua has overcome his inauspicious beginnings in the Jewish ghetto of Montreal to become a celebrated television writer and a successful journalist. But Joshua, now middle-aged, is not a happy man. Incapacitated by a freak accident, anguished by the disappearance of his WASP wife, and caught up in a sex scandal, Joshua is besieged by the press and tormented by the ghosts of his youth. Set in Montreal, the novel chronicles the rocky journey we all make between the countries of the past and the present. Raucous, opinionated, tender, Joshua Then and Now is a memorable excursion into Mordecai Richler's comic universe.… (more)

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English (4) French (1) Hebrew (1) All languages (6)

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Showing 4 of 4

A generally likeable main character with a jarring narrative switching between past and now( then and now) makes for an enjoyable read. (

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charlie68 | Mar 16, 2024 |

Loved this book. My son is actually, in part, named Joshua because of it. Great movie too.

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oshafiro | Mar 3, 2023 |

A good novel about success and what it means to the writer. MR was a good novelist, and the book has had many good reviews over the years. (

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DinadansFriend | May 9, 2014 |

This creatively constructed novel has the reader travel from Canada to England to Spain on Joshua Shapiro's journey through life. Intelligent and intellectual, it also recounts Jewish history but does a great job of giving voice to various characters, poor and rich, young and old, Christian and Jewish... a veritable fresco of humanity. Richler uses biting humour to bind it all together. A delightful and thought-provoking novel. (

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Cecilturtle | May 16, 2009 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
Mordecai Richler	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Wright, Eric	Afterword	secondary author	all editions	confirmed
Gagné, Paul	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Jonkheer, Christien	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Saint-Martin, Lori	Translator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed
Seligman, Ellen	Editor	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

▾Series and work relationships

Belongs to Publisher Series

New Canadian Library

▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Governor General's Literary Award (Finalist – Translation (English to French) – 2016)

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Canonical title

Joshua Then and Now

Original title

Joshua Then and Now

Alternative titles

Original publication date

1980

People/Characters

Information from the French Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.

Joshua Shapiro

Reuben Shapiro 'Ruby'

Stephen Andrew Hornby

Esther Leventhal Shapiro 'Esty Blossom'

Pauline Hornby Shapiro 'Trout'

Important places

Important events

Related movies

Joshua Then and Now (1985 | IMDb)

Epigraph

Information from the French Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.

Lay your sleeping head, my love,
Human on my faithless arm;
Time and fevers burn away
Individual beauty from
Thoughtful children, and the grave
Proves the child ephemeral:
But in my arms till break of day
Let the living creature lie,
Mortal, guilty, but to me
The entirely beautiful.
W.H. Auden

Dedication

For old Ted Kotcheff,
young Ted Allan,
and Miss Nina Bourne

First words

Look at me now, Joshua thought.

Quotations

Last words

Information from the French Common Knowledge. Edit to localize it to your language.

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

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Original language

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Canonical LCC

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Joshua Then and Now

▾Book descriptions

Joshua Then and Now is about Joshua Shapiro today, and the Joshua he was. His father a boxer turned honest crook, his mother an erotic dancer whose greatest performance was at Joshua's bar mitzvah, Joshua has overcome his inauspicious beginnings in the Jewish ghetto of Montreal to become a celebrated television writer and a successful journalist. But Joshua, now middle-aged, is not a happy man. Incapacitated by a freak accident, anguished by the disappearance of his WASP wife, and caught up in a sex scandal, Joshua is besieged by the press and tormented by the ghosts of his youth. Set in Montreal, the novel chronicles the rocky journey we all make between the countries of the past and the present. Raucous, opinionated, tender, Joshua Then and Now is a memorable excursion into Mordecai Richler's comic universe.

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