Sailor and Fiddler: Reflections of a 100-Year-Old Author

Ultimately, Sailor and Fiddler is an unprecedented reflection from a vantage point few people have lived to experience.. Many years ago, the great British philosopher Sir Isaiah Berlin urged Herman Wouk to write his autobiography. Written with the wisdom of a man who has lived through two centuries and the wit of someone who began his career as a 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 li

Super book. Herman Wouk is a national literary treasure. The man started writing during World War II and here is his latest effort--a wonderful autobiography at the age of 100. Wouk devotes the bulk of the book to explaining the creative process he went through to write his numerous best sellers. He shares that in the early 1950s he almost launched another big project rather than write what became his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, The Caine Mutiny. The author details the pains taking research that went into what he calls his Main Task--The Winds of War and War and Remembrance and points out the autobiographical elements of his later novel, Insi. "“Literature, I tell aspiring writers, is a mug’s game…a crapshoot, the stakes one’s heart’s blood.”" according to Mary Whipple. And Herman Wouk should know. Having just had his 100th birthday, this author of 2“Literature, I tell aspiring writers, is a mug’s game…a crapshoot, the stakes one’s heart’s blood.” Mary Whipple And Herman Wouk should know. Having just had his 100th birthday, this author of 24 books in 75 years has earned the right to comment. Writing may be a crapshoot for him but he also had a talent for being in the right place at the right time, recognizing new opportunities and new avenues of communication (such as television) as they arose. This talent, combined with his incredible dedication to long-range goals and seemingly unlimited energy – several times spending seven or eight years on a single book – led to popular success as well as literary recognition. This book, which he has declared will be his last, is a memoir. books in 75 years has earned the right to comment. Writing may be a crapshoot for him but he also had a talent for being in the right place at the right time, recognizing new opportunities and new avenues of communication (such as television) as they arose. This talent, combined with his incredible dedication to long-range goals and seemingly unlimited energy – several times spending seven or eight years on a single book – led to popular success as well as literary recognition. This book, which he has declared will be his last, is a memoir. CHRIS said The greatest "The greatest 20th Century Novelist" according to CHRIS. I read my first Herman Wouk book at the age of 1The greatest 20th Century Novelist CHRIS I read my first Herman Wouk book at the age of 14 in 1974, when I checked out "The Caine Mutiny" from my public library. I was hooked from the beginning of the book and couldn't put it down, which has been my experience with all of Mr. Wouk's work. Sailor and Fiddler gives a great insight into Wouk's life, his writing, and how he came up with the ideas for "Youngblood Hawke", "The Winds of War", "War and Remembrance", and a host of other novels that have enriched the lives of readers for over half a century. My only complaint: I wish that "Sailor and Fiddler" had been a couple of hundred pages longer. Wouk closes this book by mentio. in 197The greatest 20th Century Novelist CHRIS I read my first Herman Wouk book at the age of 14 in 1974, when I checked out "The Caine Mutiny" from my public library. I was hooked from the beginning of the book and couldn't put it down, which has been my experience with all of Mr. Wouk's work. Sailor and Fiddler gives a great insight into Wouk's life, his writing, and how he came up with the ideas for "Youngblood Hawke", "The Winds of War", "War and Remembrance", and a host of other novels that have enriched the lives of readers for over half a century. My only complaint: I wish that "Sailor and Fiddler" had been a couple of hundred pages longer. Wouk closes this book by mentio. , when I checked out "The Caine Mutiny" from my public library. I was hooked from the beginning of the book and couldn't put it down, which has been my experience with all of Mr. Wouk's work. Sailor and Fiddler gives a great insight into Wouk's life, his writing, and how he came up with the ideas for "Youngblood Hawke", "The Winds of War", "War and Remembrance", and a host of other novels that have enriched the lives of readers for over half a century. My only complaint: I wish that "Sailor and Fiddler" had been a couple of hundred pages longer. Wouk closes this book by mentio. 0th Century Novelist. I read my first Herman Wouk book at the age of 1The greatest 20th Century Novelist CHRIS I read my first Herman Wouk book at the age of 14 in 1974, when I checked out "The Caine Mutiny" from my public library. I was hooked from the beginning of the book and couldn't put it down, which has been my experience with all of Mr. Wouk's work. Sailor and Fiddler gives a great insight into Wouk's life, his writing, and how he came up with the ideas for "Youngblood Hawke", "The Winds of War", "War and Remembrance", and a host of other novels that have enriched the lives of readers for over half a century. My only complaint: I wish that "Sailor and Fiddler" had been a couple of hundred pages longer. Wouk closes this book by mentio. in 197The greatest 20th Century Novelist CHRIS I read my first Herman Wouk book at the age of 14 in 1974, when I checked out "The Caine Mutiny" from my public library. I was hooked from the beginning of the book and couldn't put it down, which has been my experience with all of Mr. Wouk's work. Sailor and Fiddler gives a great insight into Wouk's life, his writing, and how he came up with the ideas for "Youngblood Hawke", "The Winds of War", "War and Remembrance", and a host of other novels that have enriched the lives of readers for over half a century. My only complaint: I wish that "Sailor and Fiddler" had been a couple of hundred pages longer. Wouk closes this book by mentio. , when I checked out "The Caine Mutiny" from my public library. I was hooked from the beginning of the book and couldn't put it down, which has been my experience with all of Mr. Wouk's work. Sailor and Fiddler gives a great insight into Wouk's life, his writing, and how he came up with the ideas for "Youngblood Hawke", "The Winds of War", "War and Remembrance", and a host of other novels that have enriched the lives of readers for over half a century. My only complaint: I wish that "Sailor and Fiddler" had been a couple of hundred pages longer. Wouk closes this book by mentio