A CHILD OF THE CENTURY

by Ben Hecht ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 24, 1954

A great unburdening, this autobiography of one of the controversial figures of stage, screen and books breaks over into philosophy, analysis and crusading, and Hecht's twilight thinking at 55 is brightened by his realization that there must be a God. Born in New York, raised in Racine, the early chapters build up a full gallery of his Jewish family and the warm, loving, flashing background they made for him. Then the antic years in Chicago in which journalism, literature, whores, crime, friendships and his writing career tumbled over each other and the youthful renaissance there was a strident accompaniment for beginning authors. Two years in a Germany without a leader preceded his move to New York, then came the Florida boom and next Hollywood and the years of scripting pictures. His awareness of his un-Jewishness came as a surprise and he turned Jew with a fervor that led him to propaganda for the American Committee for a Jewish Army of Stateless and Palestinian Jews, which committed him to enmity, abuse and some loyalty. Poking into every nook and cranny -- of his thinking, his writing, his experiences; of sex, women, marriage, divorce, fatherhood; of public opinion, public figures -- this battle cry of me-dom is a very private life that does not tiptoe in sensitive areas and that does offer stimulating reading in its testimony of a half century of omniverous living.

Pub Date: May 24, 1954

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1954

Categories: NONFICTION