Inside, Outside
Encyclopedia
Inside, Outside is a 1985 Herman Wouk
novel telling the story of four generations of a Russian Jewish family and its travails in Russia and America. The book is a first person
(and somewhat autobiographical) narrative told from the viewpoint of Israel David Goodkind, the third of the four generations in the book. Goodkind works in a minor bureaucratic post in the White House
between March and October 1973; his insignificance gives him time to write his memoirs (the book itself, told as though Goodkind wrote it) while his position gives him opportunities to come face to face with the harried President Richard Nixon
. Nixon is never actually named in the book, but there can be no doubt as to his identity. The narrative refers explicitly to the Watergate scandal, as an event contemporaneous with Goodkind's employment in the White House.
. The tales of Goodkind's early years describe his family - his mother and father, his sister, his mother's father and father's mother, his mother's half sister, and a tribe of more distant uncles, aunts and cousins (the 'Mishpokha', Yiddish for 'family'). After college, Goodkind works for Harry Goldhandler, a gagwriter for radio comedies (very loosely based on David Freedman
), and has a romance with showgirl Bobby Webb. The tales of his present day in 1973 are centered on his wife, his daughter, their friends, and Peter Quat, a college friend who also worked for Goldhandler, and who had become a famous novelist for his sexually explicit characters and unflattering depictions of American Jewish life. Quat's books seem similar to the work of Philip Roth
, but Roth did not attend Columbia nor work for Freedman.
As a young man, Goodkind becomes less observant, but his adult self has returned to the Orthodox practices of his father and grandfather. Goodkind as a child and young man is embarrassed by his first name "Israel", mockingly shortened by several other characters to "Izzy". In the last scene of the novel when Goodkind returns to the U.S. after the Yom Kippur war, he tells an El Al flight attendant to call him Israel.
, Zero Mostel
, Bert Lahr
, Marlene Dietrich
, John Barrymore
, Ernest Hemingway
, Leslie Howard
, and the brothers George Gershwin
and Ira Gershwin
. Goodkind visits Israel during the Yom Kippur war, carries a secret letter from Golda Meir to Richard Nixon, and rides back Israel with the U. S. Air Force airlift of supplies
.
Herman Wouk
Herman Wouk is a Pulitzer Prize-winning American author of novels including The Caine Mutiny, The Winds of War, and War and Remembrance.-Biography:...
novel telling the story of four generations of a Russian Jewish family and its travails in Russia and America. The book is a first person
First-person narrative
First-person point of view is a narrative mode where a story is narrated by one character at a time, speaking for and about themselves. First-person narrative may be singular, plural or multiple as well as being an authoritative, reliable or deceptive "voice" and represents point of view in the...
(and somewhat autobiographical) narrative told from the viewpoint of Israel David Goodkind, the third of the four generations in the book. Goodkind works in a minor bureaucratic post in the White House
White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical...
between March and October 1973; his insignificance gives him time to write his memoirs (the book itself, told as though Goodkind wrote it) while his position gives him opportunities to come face to face with the harried President Richard Nixon
Richard Nixon
Richard Milhous Nixon was the 37th President of the United States, serving from 1969 to 1974. The only president to resign the office, Nixon had previously served as a US representative and senator from California and as the 36th Vice President of the United States from 1953 to 1961 under...
. Nixon is never actually named in the book, but there can be no doubt as to his identity. The narrative refers explicitly to the Watergate scandal, as an event contemporaneous with Goodkind's employment in the White House.
Plot summary
The story alternates between Goodkind telling his family history and early years (specifically, his first 26 years (1915-1941)) and his account of current events in 1973, leading up to the Yom Kippur WarYom Kippur War
The Yom Kippur War, Ramadan War or October War , also known as the 1973 Arab-Israeli War and the Fourth Arab-Israeli War, was fought from October 6 to 25, 1973, between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egypt and Syria...
. The tales of Goodkind's early years describe his family - his mother and father, his sister, his mother's father and father's mother, his mother's half sister, and a tribe of more distant uncles, aunts and cousins (the 'Mishpokha', Yiddish for 'family'). After college, Goodkind works for Harry Goldhandler, a gagwriter for radio comedies (very loosely based on David Freedman
David Freedman
David Freedman was a Romanian-born American playwright and biographer who became known as the "King of the Gag-writers" in the early days of radio....
), and has a romance with showgirl Bobby Webb. The tales of his present day in 1973 are centered on his wife, his daughter, their friends, and Peter Quat, a college friend who also worked for Goldhandler, and who had become a famous novelist for his sexually explicit characters and unflattering depictions of American Jewish life. Quat's books seem similar to the work of Philip Roth
Philip Roth
Philip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained fame with the 1959 novella Goodbye, Columbus, an irreverent and humorous portrait of Jewish-American life that earned him a National Book Award...
, but Roth did not attend Columbia nor work for Freedman.
As a young man, Goodkind becomes less observant, but his adult self has returned to the Orthodox practices of his father and grandfather. Goodkind as a child and young man is embarrassed by his first name "Israel", mockingly shortened by several other characters to "Izzy". In the last scene of the novel when Goodkind returns to the U.S. after the Yom Kippur war, he tells an El Al flight attendant to call him Israel.
Allusions/references to actual history and geography
Among the famous people Goodkind comes face to face with in the course of the book besides Nixon are Golda MeirGolda Meir
Golda Meir ; May 3, 1898 – December 8, 1978) was a teacher, kibbutznik and politician who became the fourth Prime Minister of the State of Israel....
, Zero Mostel
Zero Mostel
Samuel Joel “Zero” Mostel was an American actor of stage and screen, best known for his portrayal of comic characters such as Tevye on stage in Fiddler on the Roof, Pseudolus on stage and on screen in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Max Bialystock in the original film version...
, Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr
Bert Lahr was an American actor and comedian. Lahr is remembered today for his roles as the Cowardly Lion and Kansas farmworker Zeke in The Wizard of Oz, but was also well-known for work in burlesque, vaudeville, and on Broadway.-Early life:Lahr was born in New York City, of German-Jewish heritage...
, Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich
Marlene Dietrich was a German-American actress and singer.Dietrich remained popular throughout her long career by continually re-inventing herself, professionally and characteristically. In the Berlin of the 1920s, she acted on the stage and in silent films...
, John Barrymore
John Barrymore
John Sidney Blyth , better known as John Barrymore, was an acclaimed American actor. He first gained fame as a handsome stage actor in light comedy, then high drama and culminating in groundbreaking portrayals in Shakespearean plays Hamlet and Richard III...
, Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
, Leslie Howard
Leslie Howard (actor)
Leslie Howard was an English stage and film actor, director, and producer. Among his best-known roles was Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind and roles in Berkeley Square , Of Human Bondage , The Scarlet Pimpernel , The Petrified Forest , Pygmalion , Intermezzo , Pimpernel Smith...
, and the brothers George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
and Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin
Ira Gershwin was an American lyricist who collaborated with his younger brother, composer George Gershwin, to create some of the most memorable songs of the 20th century....
. Goodkind visits Israel during the Yom Kippur war, carries a secret letter from Golda Meir to Richard Nixon, and rides back Israel with the U. S. Air Force airlift of supplies
Operation Nickel Grass
Operation Nickel Grass was an overt strategic airlift operation conducted by the United States to deliver weapons and supplies to Israel during the Yom Kippur War. The Military Airlift Command of the U.S...
.