''The Incomparable Atuk'' is a
satirical novel by
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
author
Mordecai Richler
Mordecai Richler (January 27, 1931 – July 3, 2001) was a Canadian writer. His best known works are '' The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz'' (1959) and '' Barney's Version'' (1997). His 1970 novel '' St. Urbain's Horseman'' and 1989 novel ...
.
[ It was first published in 1963, by ]McClelland and Stewart
McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is owned by Penguin Random House of Canada, a branch of Penguin Random House, the international book publishing division of German media giant Bertelsmann.
History
It was found ...
. The novel was published as ''Stick Your Neck Out'' in the United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. ''The Incomparable Atuk'' tells the story of a Canadian Inuit
Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...
, who is transplanted to Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
and quickly adopts the greed and pretensions of the big city.
The novel satirized the Canadian cultural elites of Richler's day, who fetishize Atuk: first as a noble savage and then, when his corruption becomes apparent, as a symbol of Canadian nationalism and anti-American sentiment. Many of the characters are parodies of real Canadian celebrities, including Hugh Garner
Hugh Garner (February 22, 1913 – June 30, 1979) was a British-born Canadian novelist.
Biography Early life
Hugh Garner was born on February 22, 1913, in Batley, Yorkshire, England. He came to Canada in 1919 with his parents, and was raised in ...
, Nathan Cohen, Pierre Berton
Pierre Francis de Marigny Berton, CC, O.Ont. (July 12, 1920 – November 30, 2004) was a Canadian writer, journalist and broadcaster. Berton wrote 50 best-selling books, mainly about Canadiana, Canadian history and popular culture. He also wr ...
, and Nathan Phillips.
A film adaptation was in the works from the mid-1980s to the beginning of the 1990s, but never materialized. The movie, which would have been simply called ''Atuk ''Atuk'' (Inuit for "Grandfather") is the name of an unfilmed American screenplay, intended to be a film adaptation based upon the 1963 novel ''The Incomparable Atuk'', by Canadian author Mordecai Richler. It is essentially a fish out of water comed ...
'', has been called cursed, as several actors associated with the film's development died, including John Belushi
John Adam Belushi (January 24, 1949 – March 5, 1982) was an American comedian, actor, and musician, best known for being one of the seven original cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL''). Throughout his c ...
, Sam Kinison
Samuel Burl Kinison ( ; December 8, 1953 – April 10, 1992) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. A former Pentecostal preacher, he performed stand-up routines that were characterized by intense sudden tirades, punctuated with his distinc ...
, John Candy
John Franklin Candy (October 31, 1950 – March 4, 1994) was a Canadian actor and comedian known mainly for his work in Hollywood films. Candy rose to fame in the 1970s as a member of the Toronto branch of the Second City and its '' SCTV'' seri ...
, Michael O'Donoghue
Michael O'Donoghue (January 5, 1940 – November 8, 1994) was an American writer and performer. He was known for his dark and destructive style of comedy and humor, was a major contributor to ''National Lampoon'' magazine, and was the ...
, Chris Farley
Christopher Crosby Farley (February 15, 1964 – December 18, 1997) was an American actor and comedian. Farley was known for his loud, energetic comedic style, and was a member of Chicago's Second City Theatre and later a cast member of the ...
, and Phil Hartman
Philip Edward Hartman (; September 24, 1948 – May 28, 1998) was a Canadian-American actor, comedian, screenwriter and graphic designer. Hartman was born in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, and his family moved to the United States w ...
. Rumours of the script being cursed were dismissed in February 1999.
It also attracted the interest of other actors who have survived well beyond the film's ceased production, such as Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show '' Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 2 ...
, Jack Black, John Goodman
John Stephen Goodman (born June 20, 1952) is an American actor. He gained national fame for his role as the family patriarch Dan Conner in the American Broadcasting Company, ABC comedy series ''Roseanne'' (1988–1997; 2018), for which he rec ...
, and Josh Mostel
Joshua Mostel (born December 21, 1946) is an American actor with numerous film and Broadway credits. The son of Zero Mostel, he is best known for his supporting roles in films such as ''Jesus Christ Superstar'' (1973), '' Harry and Tonto'' (1974 ...
– as well as Jonathan Winters
Jonathan Harshman Winters III (November 11, 1925 – April 11, 2013) was an American comedian, actor, author, television host, and artist. Beginning in 1960, Winters recorded many classic comedy albums for the Verve Records label. He also h ...
, who lived to age 87, dying in April 2013 – though some might claim the "curse" also indirectly led to the untimely death of Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
, Winters' virtual protege.
References
Novels by Mordecai Richler
1963 Canadian novels
English-language novels
New Canadian Library
Novels set in Toronto
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