So that [he] can't flush it down the toilet. Gary Shteyngart, please get a fucking clue. The guy never even bothered to learn how to speak French...But Richler certainly had a compassion and understanding for French Canadians; many of the most honest, exemplary characters in his fiction are Francophones. I remember the cabdriver in Barney's Version who complains to Barney about the excitement of the Canadiens playing for the Stanley Cup. " 'Mon blood pressure est sky-high,' said the driver. 'C'est le stress.' "