- Paperback
- Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. (March 1988)
- ISBN-10: 0805007954
- ISBN-13: 978-0805007954
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 14 x 5.1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 522 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,780,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Dickensian characters, social satire a la Balzac and gratuitous vulgarity have propelled this second novel by a Canadian writer to sales of over one-million copies worldwide. American readers, however, are likely to find the darkly comic adventures of its picaresque hero much too unsophisticated for their tastes. Florent Boissonneault is a young Montrealer whose life is enriched, then plagued, by an old man purporting to be his benefactor. When the mysterious Egon Ratablavasky offers Florent the means to realize his ambition as a restaurateur, the ebullient Florent is at first elated but quite soon terrified at Ratablavasky's power. A strange and pungent odor (sulphur?) always accompanies Ratablavasky's appearances, underscoring his resemblance to the devil. The plot progresses through one slapstick event after another, in which Florent gains and loses his restaurant, his home, his health and good spirits, his means of livelihoodand almost his sanity, his hoped-for family and his wife. Ratablavasky, often referred to as "the stinking alley cat," and a real, tiger-striped alley cat named Breakfast, owned by an alcoholic urchin of six, finally confront each other in a less-than-credible scene at the novel's resolution. The French-Canadian flavor of this narrative, its broadly limned satire and panoply of eccentric characters do not compensate for the novel's flat and rambling peregrinations. Author tour.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
First published in Quebec in 1981, Beauchemin’s highly acclaimed comic masterpiece of storytelling follows in the tradition of the great novels of the 19th century.
When Florent Boissonneault comes to the aid of an accident victim, his life changes forever. One onlooker, the powerful and sinister Egon Ratablavasky, comes to haunt his ambitions and dreams, lurking behind his every opportunity, success, and failure. Finally, obsessed by a need to free himself, Florent discovers how to fight back.
From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
When Florent Boissonneault comes to the aid of an accident victim, his life changes forever. One onlooker, the powerful and sinister Egon Ratablavasky, comes to haunt his ambitions and dreams, lurking behind his every opportunity, success, and failure. Finally, obsessed by a need to free himself, Florent discovers how to fight back.
From the Trade Paperback edition. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Alley Cat: A Novel,
By
This review is from: The alley cat: A novel (Hardcover)
A great read! My husband and I were tuned in to the CBC and heard about this book. It was touted as the best book written by a Quebec author. I have not read alot of other authors born in Quebec but this one IS good. It is a 450 page tome about a man's misfortunes in a 1980s world. Some of the characters that plague his life still exist today in the person of "venal journalists, corrupt bureaucrats and sleazy businessmen". It is easy to read. I am not sure the translation from the French is accurate, having not read the French version, but this reads true to the story. Recommended.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read this great literary artifact!,
This review is from: The Alley Cat (Mass Market Paperback)
The Alley Cat is a book that is altogether encouraging, discouraging, and a funny, poignant tale of learning to stand on your own two feet. I loved and hated each character, because their good and bad traits were so vividly described by Beauchemin. Monsieur Emile and Ratablavasky are by far the two greatest characters created in Canadian Lit, if not Lit altogether. What a great story. Modern-day Dostoevsky Beauchemin is! His writing is filled with urban decay and human foibles, modernized and made funnier. Read this!
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant epic novel from Quebec,
This review is from: The Alley Cat (Mass Market Paperback)
From the first line of this novel you will be hooked. This book is passionate, compassionate, humorous, grotesque, bizarre and epic in every regard. The language zips along with wonderful ingenuity and the characters are magnificent. An earlier reviewer mentioned two brilliant characters, but there are many, many other memorable characters in this wonderful book. Up until the last five pages of this very large novel, you are held wondering how it will all end. A great novel worthy in tribute to such luminous writers as Dickens or Thackery. You will roll on the floor laughing, and you will hold your breath at some of the more tragic moments. One of my favourite novels of all time. A great read.
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