Irwin Shaw - Book Series In Order (2024)

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Irwin Gilbert Shamforoff, also known as Irwin Shaw, was an American screenwriter, playwright, writer of short stories, and best-selling novelist that put out a prolific amount of writing throughout his career.

Born February 27, 1913, Irwin was born in New York City in the South Bronx. His mother’s name was Rose and his father’s name was Will, and they were both Russian-Jewish and immigrated to the United States. While Irwin would go on to be a noted writer, his younger brother would also achieve success in Hollywood, where he became a producer.

Once Irwin had been born, it was not too long before the family moved to Brooklyn. Irwin decided that he would change the surname he had once he had gotten to college. He would attend Brooklyn College and graduated in 1934 with his Bachelor of Arts degree.

The future writer was just 21 when he first set about screenwriting. The year was 1935 and he quickly found some work. He wrote the scripts for a couple of well known radio shows that were being broadcast to the masses at the time in America, which included The Gumps, Dick Tracy, and Studio One. This would set off a long career writing for the screen in addition to taking on the novel.

The first play that he composed was titled “Bury the Dead”, a 1936 expressionist drama. Irwin would then write for different films throughout the course of the forties. One was a comedy called “Talk of the Town”, while another was called “The Commandos Strike At Dawn”. Commandos was inspired by a story composed by C.S. Forester where commandos were in Norway (occupied at the time). Another was “Easy Living”, which revolved around an athlete playing football that could not get back into the game thanks to a medical condition.

Shaw would find love with Marian Edwards, and the two would get married. They had a child together, a son that they named Adam. He was born to the couple in 1950 and would follow in the footsteps of this father by also becoming a writer. Adam Shaw would pen articles for magazines and write some nonfiction too.

The author also signed up to be part of the United States Army during the second World War serving as a warrant officer and with a film documentary unit in the Army. His first book would be released in 1949, titled The Young Lions. The premise of the novel was that the book was based on the very real experiences that he himself had gone through during the course of World War II in Europe. With an engaging subject and a willing audience. the novel did very well. It was even made into a film released in 1958.

Shaw’s second book would come out in 1951 and was titled The Troubled Air. It was all about McCarthyism and its rise. The author had signed (along with many other people who had also signed) a petition that was being put to the United States Supreme Court requesting a review of the convictions of Dalton Trumbo and John Howard Lawson for ‘contempt of Congress’ that came from the House Committee’s hearings done on something referred to as “Un-American Activities”.

The finger of communism had been pointed at the author before through the Red Channels publication that had accused him, and falsely so. Regardless, Shaw became blacklisted in Hollywood thanks to the studio bosses that ran the movies. He would take a break from America and in 1951 packed up and moved to Europe. He would reside there for twenty-five years, spending much of his time in Switzerland and Paris. He would later say that being placed on the blacklist had simply ‘bruised’ his own career at the time.

Shaw would continue to write, composing many additional screenplays during the fifties. He would write “Desire Under the Elms”, based on a play by Eugene O’Neill, as well as “Fire Down Below”, which revolved around a tramp boat that was on the waters of the Caribbean.

Shaw would write more books in Europe that would go on to do quite well. Some of the more popular best sellers included Lucy Crown, Two Weeks in Another Town, Rich Man, Poor Man, and Evening in Byzantium. Byzantium would be adapted into a television movie in 1978, while Rich Man, Poor Man became a television miniseries that aired in 1976 on ABC and did very well. Top of the Hill was also adapted into a television movie based off of the author’s book regaling the Lake Placid Winter Olympics tale. The movie starred Adrienne Barbeau, Wayne Rogers, and Sonny Bono.

The author would pass away on May 16, 1984 in Switzerland at the age of 71.

Irwin Shaw is the author of the novel Rich Man, Poor Man. The book was first released in 1969 for readers to pick up and enjoy and remains a classic.

This novel has been called an engrossing novel that is so “well written” that the reader doesn’t want to finish it, according to The San Francisco Examiner. The publication also chalked the novel up to being the best work by the writer to date. It has sold over six million copies, making it officially a best seller you cannot miss out on!

Beggarman, Thief is the second novel to follow the debut Rich Man, Poor Man by Irwin Shaw. While the first novel did very well, the second installment failed to take off in terms of sales of copies, but was a welcome addition to the series nonetheless.

Main character Wesley cannot shake the murder of his father and so he takes on a quest that becomes very personal to him. He also starts seeing a girl that may be leading him on into dangers he never sees coming. But Gretchen takes on challenges that come her way and the effect on her life may be significant.

This book jumps from the US to Europe and chronicles one family and their successes, their ups and downs. Check out the sequel to the first novel and see what all the buzz is about!

Book Series In Order » Authors » Irwin Shaw

The 29th Jack Reacher novel comes out this month. With 29 novels in the series, you'd think the bad guys would have learned by now! Reacher hitches a ride but the car is ran off the road. The driver is dead, and the bad guys have captured Reacher, with the idea of making him talk.

Yeah....that's not going to end well.

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