The Incomparable Atuk

by Mordecai Richler

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Transplanted to Toronto from his native Baffin Island, Atuk the poet is an unlikely overnight success. Eagerly adapting to a society steeped in pretension, bigotry, and greed, Atuk soon abandons the literary life in favour of more lucrative – and hazardous – schemes. Richler’s hilarious and devastating satire lampoons the self-deceptions of “the Canadian identity” and derides the hypocrisy of a nation that seeks cultural independence by slavishly pursuing the American dream.

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Author Information

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53+ Works 9,078 Members
Novelist, journalist and screenwriter Mordecai Richler was born on January 27, 1931 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He attended Sir George Williams College for two years. He lived in Paris, Spain and England, and while in England worked as a journalist and radio and television scriptwriter. His fourth novel, The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz show more (1959), was received with far more enthusiasm than previous efforts. He has written a number of screenplays (including Fun with Dick and Jane and the script for The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz). His awards include the Governor-General Awards, the Commonwealth Writer's Prize and the Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award. (Bowker Author Biography) Mordecai Richler, the author of such distinguished novels as "The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz," "St. Urbain's Horseman," & "Solomon Gursky Was Here," was born in Montreal in 1931. He has won the Commonwealth Prize, the Paris Review Humour Prize, & was nominated for an Academy Award for his screenplay of "Duddy Kravitz." Over the years he has contributed to "Atlantic Monthly," "GQ," "Esquire," "Harper's," "The New York Review of Books," "The New York Times Book Review," & "The New Yorker" (which will publish a portion of "On Snooker"). Richler is married & has five children; he now divides his time between winters in London & seven months at a cottage on Lake Memphremagog in Quebec. (Publisher Provided) show less

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Gzowski, Peter (Afterword)

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Common Knowledge

Canonical title
The Incomparable Atuk
Original title
The Incomparable Atuk
Alternate titles
Stick Your Neck Out (1st American ed.) (1st American ed.)
Original publication date
1963
Important places
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Epigraph
'What would happen in Canada if full sovereignty were invoked and the southern border sealed tight against American mass culture – if the air waves were jammed, if all our comic books were embargoed, if only the purest and ... (show all)most uplifting of American cultural commodities were allowed entry? Native industries would take over, obviously. Cut off from American junk, Canada would have to produce on her own.'
Richard H. Rovere, Macleans, Nov. 5, 1960
Dedication
For my father
First words
Twentyman's dreadful equipment was unloaded at a dock in Montreal on a cold wet Wednesday.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)'Friends, Canucks, countrymen,' he went on, 'use your noggins...'
Disambiguation notice
First American edition (Simon & Schuster, 1963) had title: Stick your neck out.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, General Fiction
DDC/MDS
813.54Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English1900-19991945-1999
LCC
PR9199.3 .R5 .I53Language and LiteratureEnglishEnglish LiteratureEnglish literature: Provincial, local, etc.
BISAC

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142
Popularity
231,063
Reviews
2
Rating
(3.18)
Languages
English
Media
Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
ISBNs
6
ASINs
11