Why read Barney's Version?

Book cover of Barney's Version

Book description

Before his brain began to shrink, Barney Panofsky clung to two cher-ished beliefs. Life was absurd, and nobody ever truly understood any-body else. Even his friends tend to agree that Barney is 'a wife-abuser, an intellectual fraud, a purveyor of pap, a drunk with a pen-chant for violence and probably…

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Why read it?

2 authors picked Barney's Version as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Norrin M. Ripsman

Author

Okay, this brilliant book doesn’t quite fit with the others. But I had to include it because; 1) I couldn’t write this list without including a Canadian book; and 2) it’s one of my favourite books. Richler’s Barney is every bit as compelling a tragic character as the others I mention here, but he’s written with Richler’s sly, caustic wit.

He’s the lovable rogue who fritters away all three of his wives, including love-of-his-life Miriam, while being accused of killing his best friend. Amidst Richler’s sly critique of the modern world, we witness Barney’s slow descent into dementia and desolation.…

From Norrin's list on The best novels that nail the endings.

Alan Daniels

Author

Everything you want to know about being Jewish, brilliant, vengeful, Jewish, neurotic, charming, and being a Canadian writer in Bohemian Paris in the fifties. Richler’s hero Barney Panofsky is the portrait of a man who wasted his life, but had a great time doing it. A self-proclaimed ‘impenitent rotter’, he is redeemed by his unwavering regret at losing the love of his third wife. Oh, the carousing, the romance, the revelry. How I wish I had been there.

From Alan's list on The best off-the-wall romance literature to surprise, delight, and challenge your perceptions.