Herman Wouk

The Winds of War

It's every parrothead's dream: to leave behind the rat race of the workaday world and start life all over again amidst the cool breezes, sun-drenched colors, and rum-laced drinks of a tropical paradise. It's the story of Norman Paperman, a New York City press agent who, facing the onset of middle age, runs away to a Caribbean island to reinvent himself as a hotel keeper. (Hilarity and disaster -- of a sort peculiar to the tropics -- ensue.) It's the novel in which the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of such acclaimed and bestselling novels as The Caine Mutiny and War and Remembrance draws on his own experience (Wouk and his family lived for seven years on an island in the sun) to tell a story at once brilliantly comic and deeply moving.

A Novel

Don't Stop the Carnival

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

Marjorie Morningstar

Sweeping narrative depicting the complications which accompany the phenomenal success of a young novelist from Kentucky

Youngblood Hawke

This portrait of the American Jewish experience illustrates the clash between the "inside" of tradition and religion, and the "outside" of the glittery American dream

Inside, Outside

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.

Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author

Sailor and Fiddler

The Caine Mutiny is a sea yarn. It has been made into a Mad Magazine spoof, several plays, and a Simpsons spoof. It is a full, colorful novel of two main strands. One is the story of Willie Keith; the other is the strange triangle on the old destroyer - minesweeper Caine which results in the almost incredible fact of a mutiny United States Navy Ship in World War II. Willie Keith, through whose eyes the reader sees the Caine Mutiny, starts out as a careless, good humored Princeton boy and ends as the grim and battered captain of The Caine. The story of his growing up is dramatized in his long love affair with May Wynn, who scrapes a living as a singer in the lower reaches of the broadway night-club world. The triangle on the Caine consists of Captain Queeg, a half-comic, half-tragic petty tyrant; his chief executive officer, Lieutenant Maryk, an excellent naval officer but beyond his depth in the tense and frightening situation that develops on the mine-sweeper; and the third in command, Lieutenant Keefer, an embittered, witty intellectual who sparks the the revolt. Paralleling, the experience of a confident young man entering the military life, the novel starts in a humorous and romantic vein. When Willie Keith comes aboard the battle scared tramp called The Caine the tone begins to deepen and the lens to broaden . Tremendous scenes follow - the mounting tension on board as the ship prepares to go into the Kwajalein invasion; the wild panorama of the typhoon off the Philippines in December 1944, at the height of which the mutiny takes place; and the court martial of Maryk which follows, and which turns on the testimony of Willie Keith. Presenting the reader a surface of swift, vigorous entertainment, The Caine Mutiny also contains a searching, indirect comment on the basic problems of discipline and command in the civilian swelled armed forces of a free country. But this is left to the reader to complete in his own mind, after he has enjoyed the comedy, the long thrilling drama and the moving love story which are the main elements of the structure.

The Caine Mutiny

Diciannove anni, una cascata di ricci castani, grandi occhi azzurri e un sogno ambizioso: quello di non essere più una studentessa come tante nella New York degli anni '30, ma di diventare l’attrice più acclamata di Broadway. Mentre i genitori, che vivono in un lussuoso grattacielo con vista su Central Park, desiderano che la figlia si inserisca nei salotti più raffinati della città e sposi un buon partito, Marjorie disdegna i bei ragazzi facoltosi che la corteggiano, si iscrive a un corso di teatro e inizia a frequentare l’ambiente bohémien che dovrebbe portarla al successo. È così che incontra il carismatico Noel Airman, drammaturgo e compositore di scarsa fortuna, ma tanto affascinante quanto inaffidabile e sfuggente. Guidata dalla passione per Noel, Marjorie intraprenderà una strada tortuosa e incerta, che da New York la condurrà su una nave per Parigi, nel tentativo di ritrovare l’uomo che ama sopra ogni cosa e di dar vita finalmente ai suoi sogni...Romanzo di culto in America per generazioni, Marjorie Morningstar è una storia emozionante sull'ambizione, la ribellione e il grande amore.

Sotto una coperta di stelle

Like no other novelist at work today, Herman Wouk has managed to capture the sweep of history in novels rich in character and alive with drama. In "The Hope," which opens in 1948 and culminates in the miraculous triumph of 1967's Six-Day War, Wouk plunges the reader into the story of a nation struggling for its birth and then its survival. As the tale resumes in "The Glory," Wouk portrays the young nation once again pushed to the brink of annihilation -- and sets the stage for today's ongoing struggle for peace. Taking us from the Sinai to Jerusalem, from dust-choking battles to the Entebbe raid, from Camp David to the inner lives of such historical figures as Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, and Anwar Sadat, these extraordinary novels have the authenticity and authority of Wouk's finest fiction -- and together strike a resounding chord of hope for all humanity.

The Glory

Taking readers from 1948 to 1967 in Sinai, Jerusalem, and Washington, D.C., a stunning depiction of the conflicts that shaped the struggling nation of Israel follows the adventures of a sinister Mossad man, a religious ace fighter pilot, the daughter of a CIA man, and more. Reprint. 12,000 first printing.

The Hope

"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.

On Science and Religion

The Language God Talks

Herman Wouk's sweeping epic of World War II, which begins with THE WINDS OF WAR and continues in WAR AND REMEMBRANCE, stands as the crowning achievement of one of America's most celebrated storytellers. Like no other books about the war, Wouk's spellbinding narrative captures the tide of global events - the drama, the romance, the heroism and the tragedy of World War II - as it immerses us in the lives of a single American family drawn into the very centre of the maelstrom.

War and Remembrance

When Lieutenant Commander Philip Queeg is given the captaincy of the destroyer-minesweeper USS Caine, Ensign Willie Keith believes that the tough Naval Academy graduate will bring much needed discipline to the Caine's rough crew. But Queeg soon reveals himself to be a cowardly, paranoid man. When his actions begin to endanger not just the crew but the war effort itself, Keith finds himself faced with a terrible choice: obey Queeg, and risk the lives of his shipmates and allies - or mutiny. Herman Wouk's boldly dramatic, brilliantly entertaining novel of life and mutiny on a Navy warship in the Pacific theatre was immediately embraced, upon its original publication in 1951, 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 has become a perennial favourite of readers young and old, has sold millions of copies throughout the world, and has achieved the status of a modern classic.

The publication of "Aurora Dawn" in 1947 immediately established Herman Wouk as a novelist of exceptional literary and hisorical 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 riotus, endearing hero learns a timeless lesson about the high cost of success in America's most extravagant metropolis.

Aurora Dawn

Slattery's Hurricane

Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a perennial favorite of readers young and old, Herman Wouk's masterful World War II drama set aboard a U.S. Navy warship in the Pacific is "a novel of brilliant virtuosity" (Times Literary Supplement). Herman Wouk's boldly dramatic, brilliantly entertaining novel of life--and mutiny--on a Navy warship in the Pacific theater was immediately embraced, upon its original publication in 1951, 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 has sold millions of copies throughout the world, and has achieved the status of a modern classic.

A Novel of World War II

Dan Curtis

Ali MacGraw

Robert Mitchum

The winds of war - Der Feuersturm

Título vencedor do prêmio Pulitzer, o mais prestigioso prêmio literário americano. O prestigiado escritor e roteirista Herman Wouk, um dos maiores nomes da literatura hebraica contemporânea, registra em seu diário os processos referentes à produção de mais uma obra – dentre as inúmeras outras às quais deu vida no decorrer de sua carreira. Por muitos anos, o célebre autor desejara compor uma narrativa sobre a vida de Moisés, personagem bíblico a quem foram entregues as tábuas dos dez mandamentos. Finalmente, aos 97 anos, Wouk encontrou um meio engenhoso de transpor sua ideia. Por meio de uma série de documentos tais como e-mails, artigos de jornal, memorandos, gravações e mensagens de texto, o autor concebe O Legislador. O resultado foi um original romance epistolar sobre um grupo de pessoas na tentativa de reconstruir a consagrada história bíblica em um filme ambientado nos dias de hoje, com destaque ao intrigante jogo de interesses entre um produtor ansioso por um sucesso de bilheteria e sua busca pela atenção do “magnata do urânio”, potencial financiador do projeto.

Herman Wouk

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