About this title: Marjorie Morningstar is 19 when she is offered the job of her dreams working in a summer stock company for Noel Airman, its talented and intensely charismatic director. She is immediately engulfed in a powerful affair with the man destined to become the greatest, and most destructive, love of her life.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday, Garden City, N.Y.
Date Published: 1955
Description: Fair. No dust jacket. The binding is in good shape, the spine is intact and tight, slight wear at top end. Owner's name on the inside fly leaf. Some foxing on the edges of the pages and a stain on the bottom. Otherwise pages are clean. 565 p. 22 cm. A novel. read more
Edition: Book Club Edition.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday
Date Published: 1955
Description: Good in good dust jacket. Signed by previous owner. Nice hard cover, lightly read, light shelf wear & aging to dust jacket, stk #1162j9. 565 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Inc. 1955
Date Published: 1955-01-01
Description: Fair in None jacket. Blue cloth boards have kitty nibbles on edges, name inside, otherwise in very good condition. Unconditional money back guarantee. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday
Date Published: 1955
ISBN-13:9780224608084ISBN:0224608088
Description: Acceptable. Ex-Library---565 pages. Interior is clean and tight. Ex library copy. -Publish Place: Garden City, New York-Size: 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday & Company, Inc
Date Published: 1955
Description: Good in Good jacket. BOMC/Book Club. Used hardcover with dust jacket. Both are in good condition with light wear to dust jacket. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday & Company
Date Published: 1965
Description: Good. ---No Jacket. Good 8vo-over 7 3/4"-9 3/4" tall 472 pgs. Interior-Flawless. The boards have only light signs of aging. -Publish Place: New York-Size: read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday
Date Published: 1955
ISBN-13:9780224608084ISBN:0224608088
Description: Good in Fair jacket. -Book Club (BCE/BOMC)--472 pages. Interior is clean and tight. Nice overall condition. -Publish Place: Garden City, New York-Size: 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday
Date Published: 1955
ISBN-13:9780224608084ISBN:0224608088
Description: Good. ---565 pages. Interior-cracking at front. The boards have general signs of wear with light damp staining. -Publish Place: Garden City, NY-Size: 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. read more
"I think that this book gave me inspiration not to waste my life away, and if I plan to do something, I better do it. All in all, it was a good book, sometimes Wouk would go off on tangents that didn't really relate, but it was good."
"OK--I've finally finished it! This is my second reading--first time, I read it aged around 16 or 17 and from what i've been able to find on the Net, most female readers' reactions change quite drastically if they read the book a second time when they're older and married, perhaps also a mother.
Well, I'm 20 years older, married, a mother... But I see the book pretty much the same way I did then, the first time, which makes me wonder if a) I haven't changed that much or b) I was unusually astute teenager! :) Maybe both!
Marjorie Morningstar is in no way a great book, or a literary one, and yet undoubtedly it deserves a special place in 20th Century American writing. Wouk's prose is too loose, too pedestrian, too lazy, even, at odd times, and pretty often one wonders what happened to those 1950s book editors. On the other hand, his depiction of place, of that magical 1930s pre-war New York is sometimes magical and always compelling, though I do wonder why he dwelled so little on the Depression. Is it because Wouk was and is a clear conservative? is it because he cannot properly draw up an authentic picture of Roosevelt? Or is it simply a lack of literary talent? In the same vein, it's also strange how pretty much absent is the threat of Nazism and Hitler until almost the end, though, to Wouk's credit, he did a masterful job in this regard when he does finally get to it, in Marjorie's first European crossing and her meeting/relationship with Eden (and what a name!).
In many ways, M.M. is a classical mid-century young girl's coming-of-age novel, complete with rebellion,staid parents, 'foolish' (read: unrealistic) daydreams, seduction by a Rake and loss of virginity. I think to most of us who at a similar age had had similar passionate but fruitless/pointless love affairs with charming, egotistical 'geniuses' a la Noel Airman, their love affair's ending came without surprise. I did root for Marjorie's decision at that point, though, because what (some) modern women know today that probably women in those days did not is that a) love is not enough (it doesn't matter how much he loves you, it has to be the right sort of love from the right man) and that b) you can't change anyone or attempt to take over the direction in their lives. Basically, if Noel wanted to 'settle down', build a successful 9-5 career, get married and have kids, he had to do it because he wanted that for himself, not because he loved Marjorie and knew she wanted that, thus in that way he could properly have her. Also, Noel is annoying and quite a fool from almost our first introduction of him, and nearly all of his 'speeches' and 'theories' sound like Major Male BS to me today. Lastly, there's also the point of a girl's self-respect. The guy talked and talked and talked his head off to and around her, then went off and had sex with 'easier' females. Who wants that? She was well rid of him.
On the other hand, Marjorie herself, while an appealing character, had her ups and downs in the sympathetic department--and i guess this is a result of being a product of Wouk himself, a man who is clearly not A Girl's Best Friend. Wouk is basically a dire conservative and a reactionary who sees little authenticity in the fair sex and who, at least when he wrote the book, could imagine no other ending for a 'bad girl' than deformity and no other ending for a 'good girl' than a successful husband, a solid marriage, a house and kids in the suburbs. It's sort of funny and tragic simultaneously. But it's not funny that for the book's ending, when Marjorie finally marries the nice successful Jewish lawyer (with the right initials, M and S) he almost bolts because he can't stomach that she's already lost her virginity to Noel and, though he accepts her anyway, it's as a girl with a 'deformity'! Jesus...
My last point is in regards to Wally--an awful, awful character. He's young, annoying, affecting, full of hot air. I never doubted for a minute that he'd make it in the business (I've worked in Hollywood and have known countless young guys like him) but his obsession with Marjorie struck me as juvenile and the last chapter, in his voice, as the typical nerd-who-made-good. Well, so what? Just because a guy's an annoying nerd and you don't want him does not mean that, in later years when he returns as a successful adult, you now have to appreciate him differently. He's still a nerd, albeit a successful one--possibly, he's still annoying. and Wouk's Wally The Nerd himself admits to career success but a divorce..."
"A bit dated. I read this maybe 40 years ago and considered it primarily a love story then. It's still a love story, but there's more to it than I remembered."
"I had high hopes for this book because a number of people stopped me while I was reading this to tell me it's a great book. I enjoyed the book and it was definitely well written especially since it is in the voice of a woman but written by a man. For me the book was just a little too depressing regarding settling in your life choices."
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