Irwin Shaw was an American novelist and screenwriter. He was the author of The Young Lions which was later made into a film starring Marlon Brando and Montgomery Cliff.
Shaw is also the author of Rich Man, Poor Man which was made into a miniseries starring Peter Strauss, Nick Nolte, and Susan Blakely. He started screenwriting in 1035 at the age of just 21. His first produced screenplay was a sports film called The Big Game. Irwin enlisted for World War II and was assigned to George Stevens’ film unit. He made his debut as a novelist in 1948 with the release of The Young Lions. During his career, Shaw won two O. Henry Awards. He passed away in 1984 at the age of 71.
Publication Order of Rich Man, Poor Man Books
Publication Order of Standalone Novels
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If You Like Irwin Shaw Books, You’ll Love…
The Young Lions follows the intertwined destinies of Christian Diestl, a Nazi sergeant; Noah Ackerman, a Jewish American infantryman; and Michael Whitacre, an urbanite from the New York theatrical world. Each man goes on his own journey in this sweeping narrative. Diestl goes from a dashing ski instructor to a savage Nazi. While Ackerman deals with anti-Semitism in boot camp before being apart of the liberating army that comes face to face with the horrible death camps. While Whitacre goes from cocktail parties to confronting the barbarism of war.
Rich Man, Poor Man is the saga of two brothers who are teens in the 1940s. They are too young to go to the war, but their life is marked by it still. There is nothing about them that suggest they will live great lives, but each member of the family will push against the grain of history as the world is devasted by conflict and, ultimately, transformed by American commerce and culture. The book takes readers through America between the Second World War and Vietnam.
