From his debut as a novelist, Mordecai Richler challenged, provoked, enraged, entertained, and surprised readers. Criticizing him for his portrayals of Canada and accusing him of being anti-Jewish, many found his mix of progressive sympathies and illiberal satire confounding but hard to ignore. His novels were too engaging: their subjects crackled with contemporary relevance, and their humour was irresistible.
Mordecai Richler’s Imperfect Search for Moral Values is an investigation into Richler’s novels and the conflicting reactions they provoked. Taking into consideration the most prevalent and voluble responses to his novels, Shana Mauer examines the texts themselves and assesses how they stand up to these reactions. She asks whether the backlash was justified, and whether these novels savaged Canada, maligned the Jewish community, disparaged women, mocked gays, and generally despaired of modern life and contemporary culture. As the first study of Richler’s entire corpus, this book considers these issues in the context of a long career – one as consistent as it was varied – in which an ideological discourse often, but not always, evolved. Turning away from impressions, assumptions, and generalizations, many informed by Richler’s non-fiction and on-record comments, Mauer focuses instead on the substance of the novels themselves, finding there a restless search for lasting moral value.
Mordecai Richler’s Imperfect Search for Moral Values explores the construction of literary texts that have made Richler one of the most intriguing and successful modern writers, as well as an essential voice in Canadian and Jewish literature in the second half of the twentieth century.

Shana Rosenblatt Mauer, a leading scholar on Mordecai Richler, is a lecturer at Herzog College and the Schechter Institutes.

Shana Rosenblatt Mauer's profile page

“Mauer’s book is a careful, deeply admirable work of literary scholarship, of great value to anyone who studies modern Jewish literature.” Canadian Jewish Studies

“A timely and astute investigation of Richler’s work, one that takes the writer to task for his weaknesses without losing sight of his valuable contributions to Canadian letters. Rooted in solid academic research, Mauer’s book is also engagingly written and entertaining.” Krzysztof Majer, University of Lodz

“A sweeping study of all of Richler’s novels, from first to last – The Acrobats of 1954 to Barney’s Version of 1998 – informed by his non-fiction and recorded views. [Mauer brings] … a deep knowledge of Jewish laws and practice, history and literary traditions to her study.” Canadian Literature

“By analyzing Richler’s ethical commitments, Mauer opens up not only Richler’s work, but also crucial Canadian-Jewish issues of the period. Her analysis of the Richlerian hero’s relation to the law is both compelling and sophisticated.” Zailig Pollock, Trent University

“A long-overdue critical assessment of the provocative and humorous author’s entire corpus of novels, [Mordecai Richler's Imperfect Search for Moral Values] is the first scholarly book-length study of its kind. Mauer questions and refines some of the blanket condemnations that have been leveled at Richler and his writings—of Jewish self-hatred, anti-Israel bias, anti-Canadian sentiment, and political incorrectness, while also revealing the moral heft behind the humor and satirical bite of Richler’s characters and plots.” Studies in American Jewish Literature