Herman Wouk Inks New Book Deal With Simon and Schuster at 96

Posted on April 9, 2012

Now this is impressive. American novelist Herman Wouk just inked another book deal at the age of 96. Jonathan Karp acquired the world rights to Wouk's next book, The Lawgiver, which is a novel about Moses. Mr. Wouk is best known as the author of The Caine Mutiny (1951), Marjorie Morningstar (1955), Youngblood Hawke (1961), Don't Stop the Carnival (1965), The Winds of War (1971), War and Remembrance (1978), The Hope (1993), The Glory (1994), and A Hole in Texas (2004).

The book is in the epistolary style and follows a group of people making a movie about Moses in the present day. Through letters, memos, emails, journals, news articles, recorded talk, tweets, Skype transcripts, and text messages, the story emerges. In a statement, Karp explains why he snapped up the book saying, "I loved reading The Lawgiver. Within just a few pages I was captivated, once again in the thrall of Wouk's sharply conceived characters, amusing narration, irresistible command of story, and the wisdom of a lifetime. I found myself marveling at the verve and wit of this great American storyteller, now 96. The insights into Moses have remarkable vitality and depth. His heroine, Margo (‘Mashie’) is a twenty-first century incarnation of one of my favorite literary characters of all time, Marjorie Morningstar."

Wouk expressed his happiness at returning to the fold at Simon and Schuster saying, "I knew Dick Simon and Max Schuster well. Few of my contemporaries can make that statement! They brought out my first novel, Aurora Dawn, in 1947, and returning to their imprint after 64 years is an uncommon pleasure."

Wouk has a shelf full of awards, from the 1952 Pulitzer Prize in fiction for The Caine Mutiny, to the first Library of Congress Fiction Award, which is now known as the Herman Wouk Award for Lifetime Achievement In the Writing of Fiction. Last year, Stephen King wrote a short story for The Atlantic called "Herman Wouk Is Still Alive."