Synopses & Reviews
When a sixty-seven-year-old Canadian rascal named Bernard Panofsky decides to write "the true story of my wasted life." the result is
Barney's Version, Mordecai Richler's wickedly funny blend of satire, social commentary, and brilliant introspection on the state of contemporary life.
Hoping to rebut the charges about him made in a rival's autobiography Barney feels compelled to pen his account of events. From his bohemian misadventures during the 1950s in Paris to the fortune he amassed through his trashy TV company Totally Unnecessary Productions and the three women he married, he quickly proves that his memory may be slipping, but his bile isn't. He skewers feminists, politicians, the bourgeoisie, fads, social movements, and most of all himself. And when it comes to being charged with the murder of his own best friend -- caught in bed with the second Mrs. Panofsky -- Barney's version is as contradictory and slippery as real life right up to its astonishing end.
Wildly vulgar, superbly ironic, and brilliantly manic, Barney's Version is Mordecai Richler's comic masterpiece, the great work of a satirist at the top of his game.
Review
The New York TimesA fine, funny novel...deft, irreverent and affecting.
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The Washington TimesHis tenth novel and his best....It is time to recognize Mr. Richler as one of North America's most powerful novelists.
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Time magazineMordecai Richler's best hero yet....His memoir is cunningly designed for maximum suspense and beaucoup laughs....Exuberant...wonderfully written.
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The Dallas Morning NewsA memoir at once falling-down funny, angry and heartbreakingly poignant.
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San Francisco ExaminerBarney's Version is vintage Richler: funny, tough, and touching.
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St. Louis Post-DispatchA satisfying experience: this is a masterfully executed novel -- a funny, touching, mature work.
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The New York Times Book ReviewOne of the hallmarks of Mordecai Richler's satiric novels has been their capacity to shock and outrage....Richler's aim is still deadly....Barney [possesses] a caustic wit and Falstaffian charm....Those expecting Richler's usual verbal pyrotechnics won't be disappointed here. He is a gifted stylist, with a great ear for parody and comic dialogue...hilarious.
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The Wall Street JournalGrossly funny....A "rousing spectacle"...a novelist at the top of his game.
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Washington Post Book WorldFunny and engaging...Richler's admirers will not want to miss it.
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Los Angeles TimesRichler's great achievement.
Description
Includes bibliographical references.
About the Author
Mordecai Richler was born in Montreal in 1931. Among his most successful novels are The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (made into an acclaimed film starring Richard Dreyfuss), St. Urbain's Horseman, Solomon Gursky Was Here, and Barney's Version. He divides his time between Canada (Montreal and Lake Memphremagog) and London.
Reading Group Guide
Reading Group GuideDISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1. To what does the title Barney's Version refer?
2. The memoirs have three sections, one for each wife. What do you make of this structure? Why are these women the dividing points in Barney's life?
3. What does Barney see in the second Mrs. Panofsky? Why doesn't she have a name?
4. Barney is perverse, disagreeable, and vulgar. Do you like him despite his negative characteristics? Why or why not?
5. Barney says, "Never tell the truth. Caught out, lie like a trooper." How does this belief add to the irony of the novel? Can you ever believe Barney? How true is memory in most cases?
6. Barney's son Michael adds the footnotes to his father's writing. Describe Michael's character. What motivates him to footnote the memoirs?
7. Barney really loves his last wife Miriam. What in his character makes him cheat on her?
8. When new evidence about Boogie's murder is presented, Micheal asks his father's lawyer for the truth: did Barney do it? The lawyer responds, "The truth is he was your father." What does that mean?
9. Very close to the end of the novel, Michael says his father's philosophy was: "Life was absurd, and nobody ever truly understood anybody else." Do you think Richler is being ironic -- especially considering the very last scene of the book -- or expressing his own beliefs about life?
10. Richler is known as one of our best contemporary satirists. What are some of the things he satirizes in this book?
11. This book is in part about aging and dying. How does Barney face both?
AUTHOR INTERVIEW
Q: In an interview twenty-rive years ago, you said, "Like most serious novelists," you had "one or two ideas and many variations to play on them." What did you mean by a "serious novelist"?
A: Somebody who doesn't merely entertain, but writes from a moral stance.
Q: Would you tell us about at least one of the "one or two ideas" or themes that dominate your fiction -- and how it applies to Barney's Version?
A: I resist following my novels with suitcases full of explanations.
Q: The novel's closing explanation for Boogie's death would be a masterful denouement for any mystery novel. When did you think up this ending...before or after you began to write the novel?
A: It came to me one morning and I was grateful.
Q: Your writing has evolved since The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz. What do you see as some of the biggest changes?
A: More complexity. Enriched irony.
Q: Some might see this novel as somewhat of a morality play -- sinners are punished, the truth perhaps emerges, and a cosmic justice prevails. Is this cosmic balance a luxury of fiction, or do you think there is an eventual accounting for one's behavior in real life, too?
A: No.
Q: You have been criticized for writing caricatures rather than complex portrayals of your women characters. Do you think that criticism is accurate -- or does your satire demand a broad stroke?
A: I do my best.