William Novak (born 1948)[1] is an American author who has co-written or ghostwritten numerous celebrity memoirs for people including Lee Iacocca, Nancy Reagan,[2] and Magic Johnson.[3] He is also the editor, with Moshe Waldoks, of The Big Book of Jewish Humor.[4] He has also written several "private" books, which he described in a 2015 essay for The New York Times.[5]

He is the father of actor and writer B. J. Novak and composer Jesse Novak. He is Jewish.[3][4]

Books

As editor

  • William Novak and Moshe Waldoks, The Big Book of Jewish Humor. New York: Harper & Row, 1981, ISBN 9780060148942
  • William Novak and Moshe Waldoks with Donald Altschiller, The Big Book of New American Humor: The Best of the Past 25 Years. New York: HarperPerennial, 1990, ISBN 9780060965518
  • Die Laughing: Killer Jokes for Newly Old Folks, New York: Touchstone, 2016, ISBN 9781501150791

References

  1. "William Novak". Simon & Schuster. Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  2. "Ghostwriter von Nancy Reagan – Business And Science" (in German). Retrieved September 20, 2016.
  3. 1 2 Getlin, Josh (September 17, 1992). "Ghost to the Stars : William Novak Is the Invisible Writer Behind Memoirs by Lee Iacocca, Nancy Reagan and—Soon—Magic Johnson". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  4. 1 2 Heilman, Uriel (November 19, 2006). "Jewish joke book turns 25". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved June 11, 2016.
  5. Novak, William (July 11, 2015). "Writing Books Very Few Will Read". Retrieved June 11, 2016.