Gossip Girl # 3: All I Want Is Everything (Paperback)

It sounds like a simple story, an upper-middle class Jewish girl in New York, her struggles to become a stage actress and to separate from her oppressive parents who are deeply settled in the protocols of their faith. Yet, as Marjorie's life unfolds on the pages of this book, we fall in love with not only Marjorie, but the wonderful cast of characters who make up her life.

Marjorie Morningstar should be listed as one of the greatest books of the past century and I urge anyone who is interested in great writing by a master craftsman to read this much-cherished novel.

Many reviewers have commented on how MORNINGSTAR shows how different social mores were back in the "dark days" of the 1930s. But a closer examination of this book shows that the book is really a defense, and a fairly eloquent one, of those mores. As a young girl, Marjorie tries to reject the values of her Jewish upbringing, including its emphasis on modesty, because "after all, this is 1935". But by the end of the book, Marjorie learns that the sophisticated, "modern" people she has tried to emulate are, in their own way, just as hypocritical, unforgiving, and superstitious as the religious world of her parents. In the end, Marjorie returns to her tradition--at least, this is my take on this--because that tradition at least tries to make her into something good, instead of just into someone who sneers at the "unsophisticated".

Feminists probably hate this book; indeed, there's a Jewish organization called the Morning Star Commission that fights media stereotypes of Jewish women, and takes its name from Marjorie Morningstar. But in reality, Marjorie is not a stereotype. She is a vibrant, vivacious, ambitious person who finally learns that the desire for goodness and decency is not a superstition. If anything, Noel Airman, the boyfriend who quotes Freud at every opportunity, who is a true stereotype.

In addition to being (finally!) a book that allows religion and tradition to win out in their alleged war with modernity, MARJORIE MORNINGSTAR is just a damned good read. Wouk's style and precision are evident on every page.

Annotation: Marjorie Morningstar is a beautiful, young girl who dreams of being an actress. By attending a famous acting camp, she is thrown into the dark world of theater. Now Marjorie's life has changed forever. At the camp she meets Noel Airman who seems to be perfect in every way. No matter what Marjorie does she can not seem to get Noel to marry her, so she puts aside her dream of becoming an actress and got a job working for her father. Marjorie has saved money as quickly as she could with her new job to be able to sail across the Atlantic Ocean to get Noel back once and for all.

Author Bio: Herman Wouk was born in New York into a family of Jewish immigrants from Russia. He went to Columbia University where he edited the college humor magazine. After he got an AB degree at Columbia he was a radio scriptwriter and he briefly served in the US government, producing radio broadcasts to sell war bonds. Then he joined the United States Navy and served in the Pacific. He began his first novel during off duty hours at sea. In 1945 he married Betty Sarah Brown; they had three sons. Since 1946 Wouk worked as a full time writer. Later he was a visiting professor and a scholar-in-residence at Aspen Institute, Colorado. He was also a Trustee of the College of the Virgin Islands and he was on the Board of Directors of Washington National Symphony. He was a member of the Board of Directors of Kennedy Center Productions. Wouk's debut as a novelist happened in 1947 with Aurora Dawn.

When I first found out that I had to read for class, I didn't know what book to choose. My mom told me that when she was about my age she read a book called Marjorie Morningstar. She said it is not only her favorite book but my grandmother's as well. The first thing that crossed my mind was that this book was ancient and I was never going to like anything that my mother and grandmother found interesting. I finally decided to give the book a try and right away I found that I could relate to it. It was about a young girl, my age, with hopes and dreams, who learns what life is all about. The one thing that I really liked about this book was that it ends in reality and not a fairy tale. It was a lot easier to relate to Marjorie when everything she dreamed didn't come true. This book showed me that no matter what generation you're from, a teenage girl is a teenage girl. I recommend this book for older teen girls. I definitely give it 5 stars.