at least 37 weeks on The New York Times''' bestseller list, for months in the number one position. http://hawes.com/1956/1956-05-27.pdf The novel was controversial among Jewish writers and religious figures as well as among secular intellectuals. In particular, the depiction of New York Jews was criticized by Leslie Fiedler and Norman Podhoretz, though others, like Meyer Levin, praised the novel. Podhoretz was critical of Marjorie's return to traditional Jewish values at the end of the novel and considered her shallow for not realizing that many customs and traditions "die of their own irrelevance", but the New York Times reviewer William H. Hudson enjoyed the novel and observed that "a reaffirmation of traditional values, a submission to wisdom of the older generation and of authority and a reacceptance of individual responsibility" was a cornerstone of most of Wouk's fiction, and a reflection of the author's own acceptance of traditional religious Judaism. Wouk's fictional depiction of a bar-mitzva was a particular target of criticism. In 1959 in This Is My God, Wouk commented: I did my best to portray a bar-mitzva with accuracy and with affection. I thought I succeeded pretty well, for my pains I encountered the most bitter and violent objections from some fellow Jews. I had, they asserted, made a sacred occasion seem comical. There were comic touches in the picture, of course, but I believe these lay in the folkway as it exists, not in the imagination of the writer. With time these criticisms have abated, and two extracts from Marjorie Morningstar have been included in a reader entitled The Rise of American Jewish Literature''. References External links Slate article Jewish Ideas Daily article 1955 American novels Novels by Herman Wouk American novels adapted into films Doubleday (publisher) books Novels set in New York City Novels set in Paris Jewish American novels