A Choice Of Enemies
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A Choice Of Enemies
''A Choice of Enemies'' is the third novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It was first published in 1957 by André Deutsch. Plot and setting The novel is set in London in the 1950s. A group of dissident writers and filmmakers from Canada and the United States settle in England to escape the McCarthy era witch hunt. Problems ensue after Norman Price, a former academic turned pulp writer, befriends a mysterious German refugee and is ostracized by the others. Their rigid idealism devolves into tyranny and Norman decides that "all alliances are discredited." He faces a personal dilemma where his choice of enemies is not clear. Theme

Richler uses biting wit, pointed irony and elements of surrealism to construct a parable reflecting the moral doubt and decay of modern society. New Canadian Library 1957 novels Novels by Mordecai Richler Novels set in London Novels about writers André Deutsch books {{Canada-novel-stub ...
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Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are ''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (novel), The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and ''Barney's Version (novel), Barney's Version'' (1997). His 1970 novel ''St. Urbain's Horseman'' and 1989 novel ''Solomon Gursky Was Here''. He is also well known for the ''Jacob Two-Two'' fantasy series for children. In addition to his fiction, Richler wrote numerous essays about the History of the Jews in Canada, Jewish community in Canada, and about Canadian nationalism, Canadian and Quebec nationalism. Richler's ''Oh Canada! Oh Quebec!'' (1992), a collection of essays about nationalism and anti-Semitism, generated considerable controversy. Biography Early life and education The son of Lily (née Rosenberg) and Moses Isaac Richler, a scrap metal dealer, Richler was born on January 27, 1931, in Montreal, Quebec, and raised on Saint Urbain Street, St. Urbain Street in that city's ...
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André Deutsch
André Deutsch (15 November 1917 – 11 April 2000) was a Hungarian-born British publisher who founded an eponymous publishing company in 1951. Biography Deutsch was born on 15 November 1917 in Budapest, Hungary, the son of a Jewish dentist.Lyall, Sarah"Andre Deutsch, 82, Publisher Who Invigorated British Scene" ''The New York Times'', 14 April 2000. He attended school in Budapest and in Vienna, Austria. The ''Anschluss'' led to him fleeing Austria because he was Jewish, and in 1939, he settled in Britain, where he worked as floor manager at the Grosvenor House Hotel in London. When Hungary entered the Second World War on the side of the Germans in 1941, Deutsch was interned for some weeks as an "enemy alien". Attallah, Naim"No Longer With Us: André Deutsch"(including interview with Deutsch from ''Singular Encounters''), quartetbooks.wordpress.com, 5 July 2010. After having learned the business of publishing while working for Francis Aldor (Aldor Publications, London), wit ...
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Son Of A Smaller Hero
''Son of a Smaller Hero'' is a novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler, first published in 1955 by André Deutsch. One of Richler's earliest works, it displays an earnest and gritty realism in comparison to his somewhat more satirical later novels. It is sometimes assigned reading for high school English classes in Canada. Plot and setting

The novel is set in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The story centres on the working-class Jewish neighborhood on Saint Dominique Street, which stands in for Saint Urbain Street, the historical locale Richler would visit by name in subsequent writings. The protagonist is Noah Adler, a young and driven idealist who rebels against the entrenched cultural and social divides in the city. New Canadian Library 1955 Canadian novels Novels by Mordecai Richler Novels set in Montreal Novels set in Quebec André Deutsch books ...
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The Apprenticeship Of Duddy Kravitz (book)
''The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' is a novel by Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It was published in 1959 by André Deutsch, and adapted to the screen in 1974. Setting The satirical novel is set mostly in poor districts of Montreal, such as St. Urbain Street, with mention of wealthier districts, such as Westmount and Outremont. Parts of the story take place in the Laurentian Mountains in the resort town of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts and surrounding areas. Plot The novel focuses on the young life of Duddy Kravitz, a poor Jewish boy raised in Montreal, Quebec. Family, friends, lovers and teachers all contribute to Duddy's burgeoning obsession with power and money — desires embodied in the possession of land. As a child, Duddy is told by his grandfather that "a man without land is nobody," and Duddy comes to believe land ownership to be life's ultimate goal and the means by which a man becomes a somebody. Duddy begins to move towards this goal by working for his Uncle Benj ...
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McCarthy Era
McCarthyism is the practice of making false or unfounded accusations of subversion and treason, especially when related to anarchism, communism and socialism, and especially when done in a public and attention-grabbing manner. The term originally referred to the controversial practices and policies of U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy, and has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting from the late 1940s through the 1950s. It was characterized by heightened political repression and persecution of left-wing individuals, and a campaign spreading fear of alleged communist and socialist influence on American institutions and of espionage by Soviet agents. After the mid-1950s, McCarthyism began to decline, mainly due to Joseph McCarthy's gradual loss of public popularity and credibility after several of his accusations were found to be false, and sustained opposition from the U.S. Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren on human rights ...
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Witch Hunt
A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and Colonial America took place in the Early Modern period or about 1450 to 1750, spanning the upheavals of the Reformation and the Thirty Years' War, resulting in an estimated 35,000 to 50,000 executions. The last executions of people convicted as witches in Europe took place in the 18th century. In other regions, like Africa and Asia, contemporary witch-hunts have been reported from sub-Saharan Africa and Papua New Guinea, and official legislation against witchcraft is still found in Saudi Arabia and Cameroon today. In current language, "witch-hunt" metaphorically means an investigation that is usually conducted with much publicity, supposedly to uncover subversive activity, disloyalty, and so on, but with the real purpose of intimidating political opponents. It can also involve elements ...
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Surrealism
Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to leader André Breton, to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality into an absolute reality, a super-reality", or ''surreality.'' It produced works of painting, writing, theatre, filmmaking, photography, and other media. Works of Surrealism feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and '' non sequitur''. However, many Surrealist artists and writers regard their work as an expression of the philosophical movement first and foremost (for instance, of the "pure psychic automatism" Breton speaks of in the first Surrealist Manifesto), with the works themselves being secondary, i.e. artifacts of surrealist experimentation. Leader Breton was explicit in his assertion that Surrealism was, above all, a ...
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New Canadian Library
The New Canadian Library is a publishing imprint of the Canadian company McClelland and Stewart. The series aims to present classic works of Canadian literature in paperback. Each work published in the series includes a short essay by another notable Canadian writer, discussing the historical context and significance of the work. These essays were originally forewords, but after McClelland and Stewart's 1985 sale to Avie Bennett, the prefatory material was abandoned and replaced by afterwords.Janet Friskney, "New Canadian Library," in Benson, Eugene and William Toye ds.''The Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature.'' Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1997 (p. 794) It was founded by Malcolm Ross with the intention of providing affordable material for his students; David Staines has been the general editor of the series since 1986. In 2007 the University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 190 ...
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1957 Novels
1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year of the 1950s decade. Events January * January 1 – The Saarland joins West Germany. * January 3 – Hamilton Watch Company introduces the first electric watch. * January 5 – South African player Russell Endean becomes the first batsman to be Dismissal (cricket), dismissed for having ''handled the ball'', in Test cricket. * January 9 – British Prime Minister Anthony Eden resigns. * January 10 – Harold Macmillan becomes Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. * January 11 – The African Convention is founded in Dakar. * January 14 – Kripalu Maharaj is named fifth Jagadguru (world teacher), after giving seven days of speeches before 500 Hindu scholars. * January 15 – The film ''Throne of Blood'', Akira Kurosawa's reworking ...
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Novels By Mordecai Richler
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself from the la, novella, a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ''novellus'', diminutive of ''novus'', meaning "new". Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ann Radcliffe, John Cowper Powys, preferred the term "romance" to describe their novels. According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, in Chivalric romance, and in the tradition of the Italian renaissance novella.Margaret Anne Doody''The True Story of the Novel'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996, rept. 1997, p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2014. The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, especially the historica ...
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Novels Set In London
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself from the la, novella, a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ''novellus'', diminutive of ''novus'', meaning "new". Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ann Radcliffe, John Cowper Powys, preferred the term "romance" to describe their novels. According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, in Chivalric romance, and in the tradition of the Italian renaissance novella.Margaret Anne Doody''The True Story of the Novel'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996, rept. 1997, p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2014. The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, especially the historic ...
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Novels About Writers
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself from the la, novella, a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ''novellus'', diminutive of ''novus'', meaning "new". Some novelists, including Nathaniel Hawthorne, Herman Melville, Ann Radcliffe, John Cowper Powys, preferred the term "romance" to describe their novels. According to Margaret Doody, the novel has "a continuous and comprehensive history of about two thousand years", with its origins in the Ancient Greek and Roman novel, in Chivalric romance, and in the tradition of the Italian renaissance novella.Margaret Anne Doody''The True Story of the Novel'' New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1996, rept. 1997, p. 1. Retrieved 25 April 2014. The ancient romance form was revived by Romanticism, especially the histori ...
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