''Gentleman's Agreement'' is a 1947 novel by Laura Z. Hobson which explored the problem of

antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

in the United States, what ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' called, in a contemporary review, "a story of the emotional disturbance that occurs within a man who elects, for the sake of getting a magazine article, to tell people that he is a Jew and who experiences first-hand, as a consequence, the shock and pain of discriminations and social snubs." The novel, originally published in serial form in ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Internationalism * World citizen, one who eschews traditional geopolitical divisions derived from national citizenship * Cosmopolitanism, the idea that all of humanity belongs to a single moral community * Cosmopolitan ...

'' in 1946, was published by

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...

, and became a runaway bestseller, selling over 1.6 million copies."Assignment America"
''

Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...

''. November 9, 1953. It reached No. 1 on ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list in April 1947. The book was adapted into a 1947 film of the same name starring

Gregory Peck Eldred Gregory Peck (April 5, 1916 – June 12, 2003) was an American actor and one of the most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1970s. In 1999, the American Film Institute named Peck the AFI's 100 Years...100 Stars, 12th-greatest male ...

. The novel tells the story of Philip Green, new staff writer for a national magazine. A

gentile ''Gentile'' () is a word that today usually means someone who is not Jewish. Other groups that claim Israelite heritage, notably Mormons, have historically used the term ''gentile'' to describe outsiders. More rarely, the term is used as a synony ...

, he is assigned by his magazine to tell the story of antisemitism. He decides to do that by telling people that he is Jewish. This ruse causes problems with his fiancée, who is a social climbing suburbanite and divorcée. Green's son is victimized by antisemitism as well, adding to the tension. The book received rave reviews, with ''

The New York Times Book Review ''The New York Times Book Review'' (''NYTBR'') is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times'' in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely rea ...

'' calling it "required reading for every thoughtful citizen in this perilous century". The ''

Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'', often referred to simply as ''The Inquirer'', is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded on June 1, 1829, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is the third-longest continuously operating da ...

'' said it "bids fair to being one of the most astonishing novels of the year", and it was republished as an Armed Services Edition later in 1947.

References

{{reflist 1947 American novels Novels about journalists Novels about antisemitism Novels set in Connecticut Novels set in New York City Opposition to antisemitism in the United States American novels adapted into films Novels first published in serial form