Most Popular Books by Herman Wouk

"Valuable, wise, and quietly moving" (Chicago Tribune), This Is My God is Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Herman Wouk''s famous introduction to Judaism. A miracle of brevity, This Is My God guides readers through the world''s oldest practicing religion with all the power, clarity, and wit of Wouk''s celebrated novels. "Anyone who wants to know what orthodox Judaism means to an informed and intelligent orthodox Jew, who is at the same time thoroughly American in outlook and culture, will do well to study this work." --New York Times Book Review

An "enormously entertaining" portrait of "a Bronx Tom Sawyer" (San Francisco Chronicle), City Boy is a sharp and moving novel of boyhood from Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk. A hilarious and often touching tale of an urban kid''s adventures and misadventures on the street, in school, in the countryside, always in pursuit of Lucille, a heartless redhead personifying all the girls who torment and fascinate pubescent lads of eleven.

Like no other masterpiece of historical fiction, Herman Wouk''s sweeping epic of World War II is the great novel of America''s Greatest Generation. Wouk''s spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events, as well as all the drama, romance, heroism, and tragedy of World War II, as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very center of the war''s maelstrom. The Winds of War and its sequel War and Remembrance stand as the crowning achievement of one of America''s most celebrated storytellers.

The basis for the Herman Wouk–Jimmy Buffett musical: A middle-aged New Yorker buys a Caribbean hotel and learns that paradise has its drawbacks in this novel that “moves as fast as a Marx Brothers movie” (The New York Times Book Review). Broadway press agent Norman Paperman is pushing fifty with one heart attack already under his belt. So he decides to chuck the stressful Manhattan life and bring his wife and teenage daughter to a lush green island. With the help of a wheeler-dealer friend, he winds up buying a small hotel. How hard could running one be? Pretty hard, actually, when you throw in an earthquake, plumbing problems, rampaging ants, and a few more unexpected developments at the Gull Reef Club. Before long, Norman’s spirit is as drained as his bank account, his marriage is on the brink, and he’s desperately searching for a way out of this beautiful nightmare . . . Don’t Stop the Carnival is a clever comic departure for the Pulitzer Prize–winning, #1 New York Times–bestselling author of such classics as Marjorie Morningstar, The Winds of War, and The Caine Mutiny—and eventually served as the basis for the celebrated Jimmy Buffett album and stage musical. “Funny [and] continuously entertaining. . . . Norman Paperman, although hardly an admirable person, is exceedingly human and entirely believable. One cringes with sympathy for him.” —The New York Times “His sandy beaches are alive with stinging sand flies . . . farce laced with tears.” —Time

New York Times Bestseller: “A sprawling action-packed novel” of Israel by the author of The Hope (The Philadelphia Inquirer). This follow-up to The Hope plunges immediately into the violence and upheaval of the Six-Day War of 1967 and continues the stories of its multiple characters and of Israel’s dramatic struggle for survival across the years. The Glory takes readers through the terrors of the Yom Kippur War, the famous Entebbe operation, and the airstrikes on Saddam Hussein’s nuclear reactor—and ending with a final hope for peace. Illuminating the inner lives of real Israeli leaders—including David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, and Ariel Sharon—the Pulitzer Prize–winning “master of the historical novel” tells the chronicle of Israel’s fight to exist with a compelling sense of both the broad significance of this time in history and its personal impact on those who lived through it (Los Angeles Times). “A genuinely enjoyable read.” —The Detroit News “A top-notch storyteller.” —Time

A “truly enjoyable” journey through one man’s Jewish American experience by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Marjorie Morningstar (Newsday). Israel David Goodkind is a minor bureaucrat in the Nixon White House, killing time in the office by writing the story of four generations of his large, sprawling Russian Jewish immigrant family. As he recounts his brief stint in show business, his torrid affair with a showgirl, and his encounters with a hassled and distracted President Nixon, Goodkind also witnesses historical events firsthand—the Watergate scandal, the Yom Kippur War—and eventually finds his way back to his Jewish faith. Combining Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk’s wildly comic streak with his deep respect for religious tradition, Inside, Outside is both an individual’s story and “a social comedy of Jewish-American life reaching from New York to Jerusalem and spanning much of the 20th century” (Publishers Weekly). “Extremely funny.” —The Wall Street Journal “Wouk reaffirms his position as one of the nation’s eminent storytellers.” —Newsday “Wouk’s most significant work since The Caine Mutiny.” —Chicago Tribune “Generously stuffed with zestfully old-fashioned humor and sentiment.” —Kirkus Reviews

Through the lives of three military families, Wouk shows the wars and conflicts that have defined Israel''s existence. Chronicles their lives from the 1948 War of Independence to the Six-Day War of 1967.

A writer finds wealth, fame, and sorrow in midcentury Manhattan in “a tremendous novel . . . full of wisdom and pain” by the #1 New York Times–bestselling author (Los Angeles Times). Arthur Youngblood Hawke, an ex-Navy man, moves from hardscrabble rural Kentucky to New York, hoping to make his mark on the literary world. His first novel becomes an instant hit, and he is toasted by critics and swept along on a tide of celebrity. But as Hawke gives himself over to the lush life that gilds artistic success—indulging in an affair with an older married woman and a flirtation with his editor, dabbling in real estate developments as his second novel brings him massive wealth and even bigger opportunities—he soon finds himself in a self-destructive downward spiral. Inspired by the life of Thomas Wolfe, and spanning from the Manhattan publishing world to Hollywood to Europe, Youngblood Hawke is both a riveting saga of postwar glamor and a poignant tale of one man’s rise and fall. “A big, powerful, exciting novel . . . Wouk has a tremendous narrative gift.” —San Francisco Chronicle “As searing and accurate a picture of New York in the late 1940s and 1950s as Bonfire of the Vanities was of its period. . . . And icing the cake are some marvelous Hollywood sections, including the best agent-in-action-on-two-telephones scenes ever captured in print.” —Los Angeles Times

Herman Wouk has ranged in his novels from the mighty narrative of The Caine Mutiny and the warm, intimate humor of Marjorie Morningstar to the global panorama of The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. All these powers merge in this major new work of nonfiction, The Will to Live On, an illuminating account of the worldwide revolution that has been sweeping over Jewry, set against a swiftly reviewed background of history, tradition, and sacred literature. Forty years ago, in his modern classic This Is My God, Herman Wouk stated the case for his religious beliefs and conduct. His aim in that work and in The Will to Live On has been to break through the crust of prejudice, to reawaken clearheaded thought about the magnificent Jewish patrimony, and to convey a message of hope for Jewish survival. Although the Torah and the Talmud are timeless, the twentieth century has brought earthquake shocks to the Jews: the apocalyptic experience of the Holocaust, the reborn Jewish state, the precarious American diaspora, and deepening religious schisms. After a lifetime of study, Herman Wouk examines the changes affecting the Jewish world, especially the troubled wonder of Israel, and the remarkable, though dwindling, American Jewry. The book is peppered with wonderful stories of the author''s encounters with such luminaries as Ben Gurion, Isidor Rabi, Yitzhak Rabin, Saul Bellow, and Richard Feynan. Learned in general culture, warmly tolerant of other beliefs, this noted author expresses his own other beliefs, this noted author expresses his own faith with a passion that gives the book its fire and does so in the clear, engaging style that--as in all Wouk''s fiction--makes the reader want to know what the next page will bring.

Now hailed as a "proto-feminist classic" (Vulture), Pulitzer Prize winner Herman Wouk''s powerful coming-of-age novel about an ambitious young woman pursuing her artistic dreams in New York City has been a perennial favorite since it was first a bestseller in the 1950s. A starry-eyed young beauty, Marjorie Morgenstern is nineteen years old when she leaves home to accept the job of her dreams--working in a summer-stock company for Noel Airman, its talented and intensely charismatic director. Released from the social constraints of her traditional Jewish family, and thrown into the glorious, colorful world of theater, Marjorie finds herself entangled in a powerful affair with the man destined to become the greatest--and the most destructive--love of her life. Rich with humor and poignancy, Marjorie Morningstar is a classic love story, one that spans two continents and two decades in the life of its heroine. "I read it and I thought, ''Oh, God, this is me.''" --Scarlet Johansson

NOW A FEATURE FILM DIRECTED BY WILLIAM FRIEDKIN AND STARRING KIEFER SUTHERLAND, STREAMING EXCLUSIVELY ON PARAMOUNT+ WITH SHOWTIME THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL is Herman Wouk''s own stage adaptation of his Pulitzer Prize-winning 1951 novel The Caine Mutiny. Upon its original publication, Wouk’s boldly dramatic, brilliantly entertaining drama of life—and mutiny—on a Navy warship was immediately embraced as one of the first serious works of American fiction to grapple with the moral complexities and the human consequences of World War II. In the intervening half century, THE CAINE MUTINY COURT-MARTIAL has become a perennial favorite of readers young and old, adapted multiple times for film and television.

"In an unprecedented literary accomplishment, Herman Wouk, one of America''s most beloved and enduring authors, reflects on his life and times from the remarkable vantage point of 100 years old. Many years ago, the great British philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin urged Herman Wouk to write his autobiography. Wouk responded, "Why me? I''m nobody." Berlin answered, "No, no. You''ve traveled. You''ve known many people. You have interesting ideas. It would do a lot of good." Now, in the same year he has celebrated his hundredth birthday, Herman Wouk finally reflects on the life experiences that inspired his most beloved novels. Among those experiences are his days writing for comedian Fred Allen''s radio show, one of the most popular shows in the history of the medium; enlisting in the US Navy during World War II; falling in love with Betty Sarah Brown, the woman who would become his wife (and literary agent) for sixty-six years; writing his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Caine Mutiny; as well as a big hit Broadway play The Caine Mutiny Court Martial; and the surprising inspirations and people behind such masterpieces as The Winds of War, War and Remembrance, Marjorie Morningstar, and Youngblood Hawke. Written with the wisdom of a man who has lived through two centuries and the wit of someone who began his career as professional comedy writer, the first part of Wouk''s memoir ("Sailor") refers to his Navy experience and writing career, the second ("Fiddler") to what he''s learned from living a life of faith. Ultimately, Sailor and Fiddler is an unprecedented reflection from a vantage point few people have lived to experience"--

"More years ago than I care to reckon up, I met Richard Feynman." So begins The Language God Talks, Herman Wouk''s gem on navigating the divide between science and religion. In one rich, compact volume, Wouk draws on stories from his life as well as on key events from the 20th century to address the eternal questions of why we are here, what purpose faith serves, and how scientific fact fits into the picture. He relates wonderful conversations he''s had with scientists such as Feynman, Murray Gell-Mann, Freeman Dyson, and Steven Weinberg, and brings to life such pivotal moments as the 1969 moon landing and the Challenger disaster. Brilliantly written, The Language God Talks is a scintillating and lively investigation and a worthy addition to the literature.

The publication of ''Aurora Dawn'' in 1947 immediately established Herman Wouk as a novelist of exceptional literary and historical significance. Today, Aurora Dawn''s themes have grown still more relevant and, in the manner of all great fiction, its characters and ironies have only been sharpened by the passage of time. Wouk''s raucous satire of Manhattan''s high-power elite recounts the adventures of one Andrew Reale as he struggles toward fame and fortune in the early days of radio. On the quest for wealth and prestige, ambitious young Andrew finds himself face-to-face with his own devil''s bargain: forced to choose between soul and salary, true love and a strategic romance, Wouk''s riotous, endearing hero learns a timeless lesson about the high cost of success in America''s most extravagant metropolis.

Margo Solovei, a brilliant young writer-director has rejected her rabbinical father''s strict Jewish upbringing to pursue a career in the arts. When an Australian multi-billionaire promises to finance a movie about Moses if the script meets certain standards, Margo does everything she can to land the job, including a reunion with her estranged first love, an influential lawyer with whom she still has unfinished business. Two other key characters in the novel are Herman Wouk himseld and his wife... -- Book flap.

Prix Pulitzer peu après sa parution en 1951, ce roman, depuis longtemps introuvable en français, a été traduit en vingt langues et s''est vendu à plusieurs millions d''exemplaires de par le monde. Un succès d''autant plus surprenant, à l''époque, que l''auteur y évoquait la guerre du Pacifique sous un jour qui n''était pas des plus flatteurs à l''endroit de l''armée américaine - et de la Marine en particulier. A bord du " Caine ", vieux rafiot transformé en dragueur de mines, le capitaine Queeg (Humphrey Bogart à l''écran, dans le film que Dmytryk tira du roman), maniaque de l''ordre - et secrètement gouverné par la peur -, fait régner une discipline démente et multiplie les vexations envers ses hommes. Déposé par ses officiers alors qu''il conduit, en plein typhon, son navire au naufrage, il les traînera ensuite en cour martiale - prétexte pour l''auteur à nous rendre témoins d''un procès sidérant qui s''avère bel et bien celui de la vertueuse Amérique. Un procès, surtout, qui met à mal les convictions mêmes du lecteur, contraint de faire en tout la part du trouble, de l''ambiguïté. Un classique qui n''a rien perdu de son pouvoir dérangeant.