SUNDAY GENTLEMAN

by Irving Wallace

Unforgettable true stories by one of the most widely read novelists of our time

Genres: History

441 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1965

About the author

Irving Wallace was an American bestselling author and screenwriter. His extensively researched books included such page-turners as The Chapman Report (1960), about human sexuality; The Prize (1962), a fictional behind-the-scenes account of the Nobel Prizes; The Man, about a black man becoming president of the U.S. in the 1960s; and The Word (1972), about the discovery of a new gospel.

Wallace was born in Chicago, Illinois. Wallace grew up in Kenosha, Wisconsin. He was the father of Olympic historian David Wallechinsky and author Amy Wallace.

Wallace began selling stories to magazines when he was a teenager. In World War II Wallace served in the Frank Capra unit in Fort Fox along with Theodor Seuss Geisel - more popularly known as Dr Seuss - and continued to write for magazines. He also served in the First Motion Picture Unit of the Army Air Force. In the years immediately following World war II Wallace became a Hollywood screenwriter. He collaborated on such films as The West Point Story (1950), Split Second (1953),and Meet Me at the Fair (1953).

After several years in Hollywood, he devoted himself full-time to writing books. Wallace published 33 books during his lifetime.

Reviews

[Mykhailo Sapiton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wonderful snapshot from the past, the image of a person embodying knowledge and curiosity, not even in a pre-Internet, but in pre-mass-TV era. It also remains surprisingly educating and interesting on factual matters, as the topics chosen by Mr. Wallace are wide and different. Surely, it's now more a museum of a book than a live show, but this is no problem for me. Reports on Krupp, on Nazi sympathisers, on various detectives, on Rolls-Royce, Baedeker travel guides, on the problematic practice of lobotomy are perhaps my favourite. Another thing which certainly was of great interest is the ending, where Wallace meditates about his novel "The Man", which describes a situation where a "full-blooded Negro" became a president of the US. As we all know, this is now nothing of a hot topic, it's a mere recent history. Few of my recent reading teleported my into different eras so dramatically as those clips. The same goes language-wise — Wallace reminds what a relief it is to read a well-written magazine piece, how you can stroll though a story, and educate yourself on the way. Reporters of today would certainly benefit from such examples, despite the actuality of "The Sunday Gentleman"'s problem being even bigger — the press is in a deep decline, and living off from magazine commissions is now even more unthinkable than before. But certainly in our day and age, a talent like Wallace could actually be relieved, and boast a huge following on Substack or elsewhere.

[Dominique Pistone · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great read. It is fascinating because these were stories that this paid author created for his own enjoyment. They were the stories he wanted to tell. I loved the story about the Orient Express and the making of a Rolls Royce. More importantly it gives hope to all of us that on Sunday or in our spare time, we may go out and pursue our own dreams. Breathe the free air people and read this book.

[Jeff Clausen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real gem. I picked it up at a Little Free Library because I’d heard of his potboilers from the 60s and 70s, but this is a great example of well-researched, eclectic non-fiction. Wide ranging from a famous brothel to a lesser-known detective, this has plenty of appeal. After each essay, he went back years later and wrote a Where Are They Now section, which follows each chapter. Great stuff.

[Whit]

Found this book difficult to read. I am more accustomed to reading novels rather than magazine articles. I did find the prefrontal lobotomy story to be pretty interesting...

[Isabelle Sainz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesante recopilación de artículos periodísticos, esta vez Irving wallace habla al lector y lo sumerge en la vida de los seres humanos del tiempo de la segunda guerra mundial y la post guerra mediante artículos de la vida cotidiana de ese tiempo junto con anécdotas que resultan vigorizantes las cuales todos deberíamos de leer en algún momento