Cocksure follows a young boy navigating school, family, and the strange, humiliating rituals of growing up, where bravado and confusion sit right beside each other.

The episodes feel loosely strung together rather than tightly plotted, but that’s the point: it moves like memory does, jumping between moments of embarrassment, small victories, and the breakdawn moments of how the world actually works.

It's funny, but never soft. Richler has no interest in nostalgia; he’s more concerned with the early formation of ego, masculinity, and social performance, and how quickly those things calcify. It reads almost like a rehearsal for the adult characters he’d go on to write: insecure, performative, occasionally ridiculous, but always recognisable.

Hardback first edition (c. late 1960s; copyright 1968). Dust jacket present but visibly worn with creasing and edge wear; boards sound. Internally clean.