Dispatches from the Sporting Life [Paperback]

"Gretzky, his immense skills undeniable, has to be one of the most boring men I ever met," wrote Mordecai Richler in 1985, neatly lopping off the head of hockey's holiest sacred cow at the height of his record-setting tenure with the Edmonton Oilers. It was an act as irreverent as it was inconceivable. It was pure Richler. In more than four decades writing about sports as fan, raconteur, pundit, and prankster, Richler never made a cent sitting on his opinion, and so it is that Dispatches from the Sporting Life offers a rich and often controversial take on a realm so seemingly removed from that of the writer. Richler selected all these editorials, essays, and excerpts before he died in 2001; all have been published elsewhere. Though known primarily for best-selling fiction like The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz and Barney's Version, Richler was an avid sports enthusiast (if not participant, save for the occasional fly-fishing sortie in his native Quebec), with particular passions for baseball, boxing, and hockey, and for his beloved Habs in particular. In these 20 pieces, Richler covers all the bases, from fondly recalled games of stick in Montreal's Jewish ghetto and laments for baseball and hockey in his hometown to hilarious encounters with Ben Weider, Gordie Howe, and, while on safari in Kenya, then vice-president George Bush.

Those familiar with Richler the man might consider skipping the adoring, albeit somewhat revisionist, history of Mordecai and Montreal in the foreword, written by son Noah Richler. And though much of his magazine work (many of these pieces first ran in GQ and The New York Times) lacks the warmth of his fictional prose, his witty ruminations on the apparent contradictions between the writer/intellectual and the athlete/sports fan are strikingly observed. Entertaining, wide-ranging, and leisurely, Dispatches from the Sporting Life finds a relaxed Richler taking aim, one last time, at those who got in the way of his belief in the purity and sanctity of sport. Best of all, his shots are always on net. --Jamie O'Meara --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

“Richler scores from the grave with sports book….This book’s selections, handpicked by Richler himself,…reveal his fondness for fishing and hockey and his obsession with baseball….Dispatches From the Sporting Life is a worthy read and a fine examination of one man’s enduring passion.” -- Mike McCann, Observer

“It’s one last bit of Richler, one more chunk of tart prose to savour this summer while grieving the sad fact that there will be no more novels….Dispatches From the Sporting Life is a personal postscript from Richler, a reminder that behind the acerbic wit was a warm family man, a sports fan like many ordinary men whose allegiances were formed in the hot enthusiasms of youth but frayed in old age by the cold realities of the sports business….And it is as a fan that he wrote these essays…The greatest hockey player of all time [Gordie Howe] decides to sell Amway as he retires, and Mordecai Richler, one of the greatest satirists of our time, leaves the room with a full ammunition clip…this moment alone is worth the price of admission.” -- Paul O’Connell, The Chronicle-Herald

“The best stories in this collection are like the best of Richler’s fiction.” -- Ottawa Citizen

“Dispatches reflects Richler’s passion for sports…. Richler combines the enthusiasm of a fan with the curiosity and insight of a first-rate reporter. Add to the mix the prose skills of an accomplished novelist with the wry, mordant wit of a satirist and you end up with sports writing of a high order.” -- The Hamilton Spectator

"Canada lost more than a top-shelf novelist when Mordecai Richler died last summer; it also lost its last true man of letters….The same vigilant irony, the same stoical humour, the same vibrant language, all are omnipresent in everything he put his name to. Meaning that you’re probably better off re-reading Richler on Guy Lafleur than persevering through this season’s bright new light of fiction wrestling with the eternal verities…..vintage Richler….The real appeal of Dispatches from the Sporting Life lies in the previously uncollected pieces. Connoisseurs of Richler’s prose will be pleased to discover hard-to-find items from Signature, Inside Sports, GQ, and The New York Times Sports Magazine together in one tidy place…. Dispatches from the Sporting Life is a nice start at getting Canada’s greatest writer’s non-fictional house in order.” -- The Globe and Mail

“Laced with Richler’s senses of irony and wit on subjects from the sporting world.” -- The Record (Kitchener—Waterloo)

“It’s a Richler classic…. A wonderful selection…as achievements go, it’s right up there with pitching a no-hitter in the World Series.” -- Joel Yanofsky, The Gazette (Montreal, Que.)

“With economy, wit and flair, Richler shows how it’s done. The man’s style is always evident, whether he’s failing to catch salmon in Scotland or rooting on the hapless Habs…. Stylish sports essays from a master…. Like its namesake, the typeface is immensely readable.” -- Charles Mandel, The Calgary Herald

“Mordecai Richler’s 30 years of sports writing brims with insight and nuance…. Richler’s unpretentiousness and willingness to take the air out of anyone and anything -- himself included -- make him an especially Canadian treasure.” -- Stephen Knight, Quill & Quire

“ … this collection conveys the passion of a lifelong observer and fan holding up the ideals of sport even as he saw those principles being tarnished by people who should have known better…. a fun read…. tempered here by Richler’s characteristic wit, inimitable voice and cogent argument…. [Dispatches from the Sporting Life] should be required reading for some of today’s sports poobahs, the ones holding court in the box seats high above the action.” -- Andrew Vowles, Toronto Star

“Dispatches From the Sporting Life is a worthy read and a fine examination of one man’s enduring passion.” -- Peterborough Examiner

“It is a treat…to have a set of such vintage Richler in one attractive volume. The book is razor-sharp, highly amusing, informative, and, at times, laugh-aloud funny. It is not surprising that Richler is so missed." -- London Free Press