Inside, Outside

By Herman Wouk

Book Overview

From Pulitzer Prize-winning American author Herman Wouk, Inside, Outside is a rich and compelling story--beautifully focused and often hilarious.

Israel David Goodkind is a minor bureaucrat in the Nixon White House, killing empty office time 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 Wouk's wildly funny streak with deeply religious passages--and some intensely intimate romantic scenes rare in this reticent author's work--Inside, Outside is a striking departure from the traditional storytelling mode in which the author has won international fame, and yet it may be the most truly characteristic of all his writings. Written in the first person in a free-form, often ribald style, playing antic tricks with time, it offers all the passion, depth, historical detail, and humor that has made Wouk a best-selling author around the world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0316955299
• ISBN13: 9780316955294
• Release Date: November 1995
• Publisher: Little, Brown Paperbacks
• Length: 656 Pages
• Weight: 1.43 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

from the back cover of the book

Fascinating, funny, romantic, wise... This is a stunning exploration of the American Jewish experience - the heartfelt tale of every immigrant torn between the culture of his forefathers and the glorious temptations of a new land's dream. - A grand piece of storytelling-Boston Globe. Rich and compelling-The New York Times. Laugh until your side aches...Wipe away a tear...-Pittsburgh Press

Wouk is superb

There's no such thing as a bad book by Herman Wouk, and the breadth of his writing is almost as vast as the depth. To think that one man wrote MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR, THE CAINE MUTINY, THIS IS MY GOD, THE WINDS OF WAR, WAR & REMEMBRANCE, DON'T STOP THE CARNIVAL plus a half dozen others simply boggles the imagination.Along with DON'T STOP THE CARNIVAL, Wouk's funniest book, INSIDE, OUTSIDE is an easier read than most of the other topics he has tackled. Set in a recent decade, the title refers to the fact that in Jewish families, some people use one name at home, their Hebrew, "inside" name and the Anglicized version of that same name out in the big world. Along with the name chosen go two different and distinctive aspects of their personalities.It seemed clear on reading INSIDE, OUTSIDE that the hero's sister, Lee, is the all-grown up version of Marjorie Morningstar. This is not Herman Wouk's most important book, far from it, but it is one of his easiest works to read. The story he has told, as always, is an interesting one. There is no such thing as a bad book when Mr. Wouk is the author.

GREATEST BOOK I HAVE EVER READ

Though this is the story of a Jewish boy growing up in New York, it felt to me that Wouk had met my soul one day and probed it of its deepest thoughts. No book I have ever read has spoken this directly to me. The theme of alienation is one that anyone, anywhere, Jew or Gentile, male or female can identify with. It also helps that this is one of the funnier books I have read in a long time. It is a true gem.

Very funny and moving.

A terrific story of the clash of immigrant and American cultures. Although Jewish in setting, this could be any of our immigrant ancestor's story.