Rich Man, Poor Man

Irwin Shaw

640 pages

RICH MAN, POOR MAN tells the story of Rudolph, Gretchen and Tom, the children of an embittered, impoverished German baker, growing up in a small town near New York City as World War II is drawing to a close. These three are seen over a period of twenty-four years in scene after brilliant scene which build up into a revelation of twentieth-century American life: the mobility, the quick encounters, the big deals, the myth-making. Ranging from Manhattan in the effervescent post-war years, to Hollywood, bathed in uncertain sunshine, and to the deceptive peace of the Mediterranean coast, RICH MAN, POOR MAN is at once a triumphant study of character and a truly epic novel of America.