Wouk gets a bit precious with his asides and "dear reader" interludes, but all the same, perhaps Tom Wolfe should have read this takedown of a nascent American materialism centered in the advertising and radio worlds of Manhattan before he wrote The Bonfire of the Vanities. Wouk succeeds in depicting the era without being grotesque, without expressing superiority to his characters, and with an admirable focus that Wolfe sorely lacked.

Wouk's achievement in decrying our tendency toward Success at the expense of the Soul and the Spirit, which, as the back cover promises, still resonates today, is all the more impressive for having been written during World War II, and published just in its aftermath, before the prosperous fifties were upon us, before the Me Generation unleashed itself, before the Dot-Commers revived it all one more time. ( )

St. Barts 2018 #4 - My first book by Wouk. It took a bit to get me going, but there was a charming, friendly banter between author and reader that i enjoyed.....for the most part. The authorial asides did build-up over time and often seemed a bit too wordy and philosophical....but at other times his sarcastic wit definitely made me laugh out loud.....the lightness of the story-telling was appealing, and the story was OK.....so a mixed bag. But what should one expect from a novel concerning a moral quandary? About advertising soap, no less! ( )

Inscribed to Mom by author at the book party given by Bubbie

$100.

$35.