The City Boy [Unknown Binding]

Herman Wouk (Author)

Product Details

• Unknown Binding
• Publisher: Dell (1964)
• ASIN: B001VN126G
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,080,399 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Herman Wouk earned his living as a scriptwriter for Fred Allen before serving in World War II. His career as a novelist spans nearly six decades and has brought him resounding international acclaim. He lives in Palm Springs, California.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly charming and wonderful book for readers of all ages, March 4, 2001

By 

Patrice Brink (Oklahoma City, OK) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City Boy (Paperback)

I first encountered Herman Wouk through The Winds of War and War and Remembrance in the late 1970s. These started me on an odyssey through all of his books. The hardest one to find was City Boy, but the effort to find it was certainly worthwhile! I have read this book at least a dozen times, have worn through two copies and am looking for my third. I have read so much of it out loud to my husband and kids that they all know the story as well as I do. Herbie Bookbinder is a character that rings so true, you instantly identify with him, whether or not you are a boy, or Jewish, or from New York City, or lived your childhood in the 1920s. I am none of those things, but I love Herbie just the same. His feelings, experiences, self-doubts, triumphs, family troubles and foibles strike a chord in us all. If you haven't read this one, give it a try! You won't be able to put it down.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable children's book for all ages by great author, July 29, 2002

By 

Gary M. Greenbaum (Fairfax, VA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: City Boy (Paperback)

Herbie Bookbinder is a Jewish New York City kid with a little too much brains, a bit short on athleticism, and an indelible crush on Lucille Glass. His adventures, at school, and at camp, are a fun window on urban life in the twenties, and a slightly biting on the summer camps of that era. But things really heat up when Herbie and pal Cliff need to return secretly to the city . . .

While kids would naturally interest themselves in Herbie, there is an adult story, of Herbie's parents and their business troubles, going on just beyond Herbie's nose. This doesn't really hit Herbie, and the juvenile reader, until near the end of the story, but the adult reader can watch the subplot building until the resolution of all at the end of the story.

Well worth reading, perhaps not as great as Wouk's later books, but written with conviction, probably from his personal experience (at least as regards the school and camp scenes!).

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the funniest book I have ever read, September 6, 2001

By 

Elizabeth G. Melillo "gloriana" - See all my reviews
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This review is from: City Boy (Paperback)

This is one of those books which would be ruined were it translated to film. There really is no plot, just a lot of situations, yet Herman Wouk's descriptions of people and places, and the "dialogue" which takes place not only in words but in the imaginative Herbie's mind, are so hilarious that I can read this book annually (as I have since the 1960s) and laugh aloud each time.

Herbie is, to borrow Wouk's words, a "facile fictioniser," whose elaborate tales become reality in his mind as he ponders or shares them. Though many of Wouk's "side comments" show sophistication, everyone is actually presented according to Herbie's point of view, with evil in this world "traced mainly to adults or Lennie Krieger." This is actually far more accurate a depiction of an adolescent's mind (as also offered in the Tom Sawyer to whom Herbie is often and well compared) than one would see today. Those who would find the adult characters to be unbalanced in presentation must recall that Herbie would see only their main influence on him.

Though Herbie's crush on Lucille Glass is the source of much of the far-fetched action in this novel, this is not actually a romantic book. The reader, who can see through Lucille all too well, can enjoy Herbie's glorified version of her. One regular theme in this book, and one very true, is that the highly intelligent Herbie is so lost in dreams and ideals that those far less intellectually gifted (Cliff, Elmer Bean come to mind) actually have a far deeper grasp of the situations.

Though this is not a children's book, it certainly is suited for kids' reading. I would caution anyone who passes it on to a youngster not to ruin the book's delight by using it for "a talk" or to explain differences between "then and now." Herbie's version of life, entirely his own self-centred and humorous creation, should not be muddied by Mrs Bookbinder's lack of career opportunities; whether he sees the girls only in relation to his own dreams (what 11-year-old would not?); or whether his bizarre midnight ride violated safety rules. (No parts of this plot are intended to be taken this seriously.) And anyone, in the context, would see Herbie's having to deal only with a spanking, not years behind bars, when he is... beyond naughty as a welcome substitute. The continuing theme in the book is that Herbie, like all children, never considers consequences for any action, and gets the message that such can exist - don't spoil the impact with a discussion of 1990s attitudes towards corporal punishment.

The characters are memorable, the camp settings a happy fiction of songs, shows, and remarkable freedom, and the school scenes enough to make anyone laugh in recognition. I, who am not a fan of Herman Wouk, count this as the funniest book on any of my many shelves.