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Rating: 
Summary: a scathing satire on moral values and the media..
Review: Although written more than thirty years ago Cocksure is still a startlingly fresh look at morality and the media; too bad it's no longer in print (..however at least here in Britain it isn't hard to find a copy at secondhand bookshops). Without exercising any form of restraint, Richler paints a modern world where prudes are ostracized and sexual liberation has gone wild. The book is quite rude, and so the easily offended should pass it by (..I think the title of the book is a fair warning of its contents).The story is about a hapless middle-aged media man in London coping with a cheating wife, friends who falsely accuse him as being Jewish ("Jewish-ness", anti-semitism, and paranoia over anti-semitism are common themes in Richler novels), worries over his under-sized member, and a workplace overrun by very strange people. Society is morally corrupt (his kid's advant-garde school is really bizarre), and our poor chump always seems to come out on the losing end. It's a very funny read. However the story seems to move side-ways; nothing really exciting happens. Fortunately Richler's sarcastic wit has never been in better form. Bottom line: a very rude and funny read. Worth a look.
Rating: 
Summary: "Now more than ever..."
Review: Brilliant satire. This is the only book that has ever made me laugh at loud. But it's not all humour. It's also intelligent and shocking. In the throes of a sexual revolution but hung up on political correctness, the world Richler describes seems eerily close to the western society of today, in which Aguilera can sing about getting "dirrrrty" on a Saturday morning kids' show while race and religion are untouchable fodder(unless of course you ridicule white men and their Christianity). It is very thought provoking to say the least. I still consider myself an open-minded left-winger but Richler challenged me to decide how liberal my views are or should be. And the book also gives a warning about how far we should let things go before we decide good taste has been breached. Richler doesn't come right out and say what his views are but deciphering them is half the fun of this clever read.
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Summary: Masterwork of Modern Satire
Review: COCKSURE is the wittiest, most amusing Richler book I have read so far. In COCKSURE Richler satirizes political correctness and reverse discrimination. In the world of the book, schoolchildren perform Christmas plays by the Marquis de Sade, and political correctness in general runs amuck. The protagonist is an open-minded Canadian Anglo-Saxon male who none-the-less feels that something is wrong when children perform works by de Sade and teachers freely perform oral sex on school children. Everyone should read this Governor-General's Award-winning book that shows the dangers of taking political correctness too far.
Rating:
Summary: very funny
Review: This is a hilarious book. Those who love satire should find this one somehow. Some of the passages are an absolute laugh riot. Only a Jewish writer could write such funny things about Jewish people. Gentiles will laugh too! If you like Vonnegut, you must source this one somehow.
Rating:
Summary: very funny
Review: This is a hilarious book. Those who love satire should find this one somehow. Some of the passages are an absolute laugh riot. Only a Jewish writer could write such funny things about Jewish people. Gentiles will laugh too! If you like Vonnegut, you must source this one somehow.
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