Mordecai Richler Was Here

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Topic spans: 1957 - 2002

Mordecai Richler Was Here

When Mordecai Richler left Canada for Paris, he was a brooding young intellectual with lots to say. He returned a prolific, respected writer with a keen eye for the absurd and the magnetism to charm or anger just about all of his contemporaries. From Montreal's Jewish ghetto to Quebec nationalism to boring Anglophones to hypocritical politicians – the incomparable Richler commented, questioned, laughed and angered.

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Jacob Two-Two meets the Hooded Fang

Broadcast Date: Dec. 16, 1976

With his son Jacob, Mordecai Richler visits Peter Gzowski's 90 Minutes Live to discuss his new children's book Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang. Richler has acquired a new following, particularly with readers who are two plus two plus two years old. The title character, loosely modelled after young Jacob Richler, breaks everything down into dividends of two and he repeats everything twice.

The book tenderly pokes fun at the hypocrisy of adults and is snatched up by children everywhere. The dark adventure revolves around Jacob's imprisonment and friendship with the Hooded Fang, an ex-wrestler. The real Jacob Richler embraces his newfound celebrity status and shyly says that he likes the book a lot.

Jacob Two-Two meets the Hooded Fang

• On May 4, 1975, Julia Whedon of the New York Times Book Review wrote "Mordecai Richler is a funny man, a good writer, and everyone should go out tomorrow morning and beat his local bookseller into submission if he hasn't got a nice plump display of books titled Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang."

• Mordecai's daughter, Martha Richler, starred in the film version of the book, playing the Intrepid Shapiro in 1979.
• Mordecai Richler disliked the film of Jacob Two-Two and said in a CBC Radio interview "I think it was a very bad job, very very bad job."

• In 1976, Richler won the Canadian Library Association Book of the Year for Children Award and the Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award for Jacob Two-Two.
• Richler also wrote the follow-up books Jacob Two-Two's First Spy Case and Jacob Two-Two and the Dinosaur.

Jacob Two-Two meets the Hooded Fang

Medium: Television

Program: 90 Minutes Live

Broadcast Date: Dec. 16, 1976

Guest(s): Dr. Edgar Z. Friedenberg, Jacob Richler, Mordecai Richler

Host: Peter Gzowski

Duration: 11:00

Jacob Two-Two Meets the Hooded Fang was written by Mordecai Richler and published by Knopf. The book was illustrated by Fritz Wegner.

Last updated:
July 23, 2009

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