If you're writing a novel, you're in a room for three or four years. There's not much coming in from the outside.

His detractors maintained that Richler had an outdated and stereotyped view of Quebec society and that he risked polarizing relations between francophone and anglophone Quebecers. Some critics thought Richler more adept at sketching striking scenes than crafting coherent narratives. Cotler eventually issued a written apology to Lévesque of the PQ.

Mordecai Richler CC (January 27 1931 – July 3 2001) was a Canadian author screenwriter and essayist. His Oh Canada! Oh Quebec!: Requiem for a Divided Nation (1992) a collection of essays about nationalism and anti-semitism generated considerable controversy.