A colony of Canadian and American writers and filmmakers, exiled by McCarthyist witch-hunts at home, find themselves in London, England, where they evolve a society every bit as merciless, destructive, and close-minded as that from which they have fled. The bonds of the group are strained when Norman Price, an academic turned hack writer, befriends an enigmatic German refugee. Ostracized by his colleagues, Norman soon perceives how easily conviction devolves into tyranny. Believing that ”all alliances are discredited,“ he enters a moral nightmare in which his choice of enemies is no longer clear. With relentless irony and biting accuracy, Mordecai Richler maps out a surreal territory of doubt, describing not only one man’s personal dilemma but the moral condition of modern society.

Mordecai Richler (1931-2001) wrote ten novels; numerous screenplays, essays, children's books; and several works of non-fiction. He gained international acclaim with The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, which was later made into a movie. During his career, he was the recipient of dozens of literary awards, including two Governor General's Awards, The Giller Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize. Mordecai Richler was made a Companion of the Order of Canada in 2001.

Mordecai Richler's profile page

Neil Besner wrote the first PhD on Mavis Gallant's work in 1983 at UBC and published the first full-length book on Gallant in 1988. He has written or edited books on Alice Munro and Carol Shields and co-edited anthologies of poetry and short fiction for Oxford. His most recent book is Fishing With Tardelli: A Memoir of Family in Time Lost (2022).

Neil Besner's profile page

”The most versatile and prolific Canadian writer of his time.“
–Robert Fulford

”[Richler’s] words land on the pages like manna, he is patriarch of the cutting line and everything he touches turns into a good read.“
–London Free Press
”He is a ringmaster, making his performers do dazzling backflips without missing a beat.“
–Time
”Richler has a style which can drip irony, and is unique and memorable.“
–Edmonton Journal
”There is no other writer…who can so deftly deploy pure dialogue to create such rich atmosphere of period and place.…He is such a terrific storyteller.…“
–Montreal Gazette