Sailor and Fiddler
Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
“A sparkling memoir of a well-lived life of literature, fame, and love” (Booklist) by one of America’s most beloved authors, as he looks back over his 100 years.
In this remarkable memoir “full of adventure, wit, color, and detail” (Jewish Journal), Herman Wouk finally reflects on the life experiences that inspired his most enduring novels. With a tone that is “generous and warm” (The Boston Globe), he tells of 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-three years; writing his Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Caine Mutiny; as well as a big hit Broadway play and an equally big Broadway flop; 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 “trailblazing centenarian charmer” (Buffalo News) and the wit of someone who began his career as professional comedy writer, Sailor and Fiddler is an unprecedented reflection on writing and faith—“a lovely coda to the career of a man who made American literature a kinder, smarter, better place” (NPR).
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
At 100 years old, bestselling novelist Wouk remains a thriving, vital writer. In this slim memoir, what comes through is the sense of purpose and faith that has animated his writing, and in particular, his great historical novels, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance. He describes the creation of these testaments to WWII and the Holocaust as his "main task" in life. But this journey down memory lane is hardly somber serious subjects are typically leavened by Wouk's keen sense of humor. (He credits Mark Twain's sense of "warm laughing life" with inspiring him to be a writer.) The narrative is episodic, but even this loosely organized book reveals the hand of a master storyteller. It emphasizes two aspects of Wouk's identity: "the sailor" (a reference to his WWII Navy service), a dedicated professional, and "the fiddler" (a nod to the musical), a Jewish man of faith. Wouk ends with the tantalizing thought of his diary one day being published by his sons; it contains, he says "the whole Herman Wouk story." For now, it is enough to have this small love letter to his readers, whom he thanks "for the chance to please... through my books." Indeed he has, and, to our great good fortune, continues to do so.
