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The Jewish-Japanese Sex & Cook Book and How to Raise Wolves
1 HARDCOVER BOOK WITH DUST COVER
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1972
35 people are currently reading
3360 people want to read
About the author
Jack Douglas
94 books37 followersJack Douglas (born Douglas Linley Crickard , July 17, 1908 - January 31, 1989) was an American comedy writer who wrote for radio and television while additionally writing a series of humor books.
On radio, he was a writer for Red Skelton, Bob Hope and the situation comedy, Tommy Riggs and Betty Lou (1938–46), in which Riggs switched back and forth from his natural baritone to the voice of a seven-year-old girl.
Continuing to write for Skelton and Hope as he moved into television, Douglas also wrote for Jimmy Durante, Bing Crosby, Woody Allen, Johnny Carson, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet , The Jack Paar Show , The George Gobel Show, and Laugh-In .
The producer of Laugh-In , George Schlatter, said, "He saw the world from a different angle than the rest of us. He was not only funny, he was nice." Douglas won an Emmy Award in 1954 for best-written comedy material.
He was best known for his frequent guest appearances on Jack Paar's shows of the late 1950s and early 1960s. On one such appearance, when Douglas was well established as a Paar guest, he was chastised by Paar for holding a stack of file cards with his jokes while talking with Paar.
When Paar returned to television in 1973 and was confronted by unexpected low ratings, he engaged Douglas to contribute monologue material by mail. One week, there was no mail from Douglas; but his next package contained a "Sorry I didn't send anything last week. I forgot you were on."
Douglas and his third wife Reiko, a Japanese-born singer and comedian, were regular guests on shows hosted by Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett, and Johnny Carson.
On radio, he was a writer for Red Skelton, Bob Hope and the situation comedy, Tommy Riggs and Betty Lou (1938–46), in which Riggs switched back and forth from his natural baritone to the voice of a seven-year-old girl.
Continuing to write for Skelton and Hope as he moved into television, Douglas also wrote for Jimmy Durante, Bing Crosby, Woody Allen, Johnny Carson, The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet , The Jack Paar Show , The George Gobel Show, and Laugh-In .
The producer of Laugh-In , George Schlatter, said, "He saw the world from a different angle than the rest of us. He was not only funny, he was nice." Douglas won an Emmy Award in 1954 for best-written comedy material.
He was best known for his frequent guest appearances on Jack Paar's shows of the late 1950s and early 1960s. On one such appearance, when Douglas was well established as a Paar guest, he was chastised by Paar for holding a stack of file cards with his jokes while talking with Paar.
When Paar returned to television in 1973 and was confronted by unexpected low ratings, he engaged Douglas to contribute monologue material by mail. One week, there was no mail from Douglas; but his next package contained a "Sorry I didn't send anything last week. I forgot you were on."
Douglas and his third wife Reiko, a Japanese-born singer and comedian, were regular guests on shows hosted by Merv Griffin, Dick Cavett, and Johnny Carson.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
February 24, 2013
Witty and intriguing title: A+
Living up to title: C-
There is a lot of raising wolves. There is almost no Jewish-Japanese Sex and Cooking. (There is one Jew in a couple of chapters, and about a page of Japanese cooking. The only actual sex is between wolves.) Basically the book is a somewhat humorous but mostly just strange account of raising a family of wolves in suburban Connecticut. This part is reasonably interesting, but it is interspersed with occasional sexist, racist, or homophobic comments. I might overlook these in a really great book, but not in one such as this.
In short, I recommend that someone else take this marvelous title and use it for a better book.
Living up to title: C-
There is a lot of raising wolves. There is almost no Jewish-Japanese Sex and Cooking. (There is one Jew in a couple of chapters, and about a page of Japanese cooking. The only actual sex is between wolves.) Basically the book is a somewhat humorous but mostly just strange account of raising a family of wolves in suburban Connecticut. This part is reasonably interesting, but it is interspersed with occasional sexist, racist, or homophobic comments. I might overlook these in a really great book, but not in one such as this.
In short, I recommend that someone else take this marvelous title and use it for a better book.
wishlist
October 23, 2013On my wishlist if only because of the brilliant title...
October 10, 2011
I read a number of Jack Douglas' books when they came out in the 70's. This book is the first book that ever made me laugh out loud and cry tears of sadness. I recently reread one of his books and was appalled at how racist, ageist, sizeist, sexist, and any other -ist you can think of, the books are. Is it just that we've become more sensitive to these kinds of remarks and characterizations? Or was his original intent not hurtful or hateful but just a comedian's style of poking fun at all of us in a time that was less politically correct and now, taken out of the time period written, seems offensive? I don't know, but I gave this book 5 stars because, at the time I read it, Mr. Douglas was able to touch my emotions with his vivid portrayals of events both humorous and sad.
Read
December 1, 2012How does this exist?!
August 17, 2010
I have to give it 2 stars on principle, not because I disliked reading it. The characters are unlikable, the "drunk" jokes and "them people be crazy" jokes are overused and tiring. The story itself is just stupid. I cannot endorse reading this book, not recommend it to anyone. Having said all that, it was still sort of entertaining, and I don't hate it.
February 17, 2015
While I picked this book up primarily because I couldn't believe a book with this title was ever published, it turned out to be an amusing and ultimately heartwarming memoir about someone I didn't previously know existed.
Jack Douglas was a comedy writer; a long-time collaborator of Jack Paar, his career spanned both radio and television comedy. Memoirs came toward the end of his career, as they should. Douglas spent the time when he wasn't writing raising animals including various wolves.
The title though? Douglas's wife, Reiko is Japanese and she spends a lot of the time cooking, a skill which Douglas praises. The book opens with "Speaking of whores," and yet we never really do hear the story of the whore in Butte Montana -- it becomes a running joke through the book. There are a few other titillating diversions but as someone who wrote for early television, as you can guess it never gets beyond "a little racy." Aside from the wolves though, I would imagine Douglas chose the title simply to sell books.
There are cringe-worthy passages in this book, racist terms and phrases that now would be considered "politically incorrect" at best, but it is very much a product of its era. Outside that, many of the stories have that Lake Wobegon feel -- or Vinyl Cafe if you listen to the CBC in Canada. I often found myself reading in either Stuart McLean's voice or Jack Paar's. The chaos of the Honansville Ecolology Group (an ad hoc group of people who collectively like to talk about saving endangered species in between drinks) was especially full of characters that lent themselves to that style of storytelling.
The heartwarming parts of the memoir come from Douglas and his time spent with their pet Wolf, and other wolves. I really believed that he loved wolves and wanted to be sure they survived, despite hunters and culls and modern encroachment on their environment. The fact that he raised one at his home seems incredibly strange to me, but I couldn't deny how much he truly cared for the animals.
In many ways, this book is a bit of a mess. It's like two or three books smashed into one. On the other hand, that's kind of what life is, isn't it? Our lives are never linear and Douglas lived very different public and private lives. I'm happy to have read this memoir though it doesn't quite compel me to pick up any of the others he wrote.
Jack Douglas was a comedy writer; a long-time collaborator of Jack Paar, his career spanned both radio and television comedy. Memoirs came toward the end of his career, as they should. Douglas spent the time when he wasn't writing raising animals including various wolves.
The title though? Douglas's wife, Reiko is Japanese and she spends a lot of the time cooking, a skill which Douglas praises. The book opens with "Speaking of whores," and yet we never really do hear the story of the whore in Butte Montana -- it becomes a running joke through the book. There are a few other titillating diversions but as someone who wrote for early television, as you can guess it never gets beyond "a little racy." Aside from the wolves though, I would imagine Douglas chose the title simply to sell books.
There are cringe-worthy passages in this book, racist terms and phrases that now would be considered "politically incorrect" at best, but it is very much a product of its era. Outside that, many of the stories have that Lake Wobegon feel -- or Vinyl Cafe if you listen to the CBC in Canada. I often found myself reading in either Stuart McLean's voice or Jack Paar's. The chaos of the Honansville Ecolology Group (an ad hoc group of people who collectively like to talk about saving endangered species in between drinks) was especially full of characters that lent themselves to that style of storytelling.
The heartwarming parts of the memoir come from Douglas and his time spent with their pet Wolf, and other wolves. I really believed that he loved wolves and wanted to be sure they survived, despite hunters and culls and modern encroachment on their environment. The fact that he raised one at his home seems incredibly strange to me, but I couldn't deny how much he truly cared for the animals.
In many ways, this book is a bit of a mess. It's like two or three books smashed into one. On the other hand, that's kind of what life is, isn't it? Our lives are never linear and Douglas lived very different public and private lives. I'm happy to have read this memoir though it doesn't quite compel me to pick up any of the others he wrote.
March 26, 2014
Like everyone else, I wanted to read this book for the title (which has the most about raising wolves and little to do with sex or cooking).
This isn't the best book ever written, but I felt like it was written with a bit of honesty. The author isn't perfect and he doesn't dress himself up to be. I think a lot of the complaints about racism and sexism had more to do with the time than the writer himself. He was friends with black people and mexicans, but related how the others spoke about them in an honest manner. In a way, it was more refreshing then our sanitized world view.
I can't really find much, but I think the book was loosely biographical rather than the way it his life was. His wife and children are in the book, but I hope that the others he talks about are characters based on real people rather than real people themselves. I really can't find much about this, but will probably try and do a little more digging into the back ground.
Many of the allusions he uses are very 1970's but for me, a child of the 70's, they aren't hard to understand. While reading the book I would think that some of these things would be more difficult for younger readers to grasp. His boarder crossing into Canada saying "I live there" with a real pack of wolves in the back, would never have gone down the way it did.
Over all, I liked the book. It made me laugh out loud in a few places and have real feelings as he expresses his love for both his wolves and for his family. Overall, I think he was a flawed, but good man. He isn't a standard we would hold up to today, but I do think I'd enjoy having a drink with Jack and his lovely wife Reiko.
This isn't the best book ever written, but I felt like it was written with a bit of honesty. The author isn't perfect and he doesn't dress himself up to be. I think a lot of the complaints about racism and sexism had more to do with the time than the writer himself. He was friends with black people and mexicans, but related how the others spoke about them in an honest manner. In a way, it was more refreshing then our sanitized world view.
I can't really find much, but I think the book was loosely biographical rather than the way it his life was. His wife and children are in the book, but I hope that the others he talks about are characters based on real people rather than real people themselves. I really can't find much about this, but will probably try and do a little more digging into the back ground.
Many of the allusions he uses are very 1970's but for me, a child of the 70's, they aren't hard to understand. While reading the book I would think that some of these things would be more difficult for younger readers to grasp. His boarder crossing into Canada saying "I live there" with a real pack of wolves in the back, would never have gone down the way it did.
Over all, I liked the book. It made me laugh out loud in a few places and have real feelings as he expresses his love for both his wolves and for his family. Overall, I think he was a flawed, but good man. He isn't a standard we would hold up to today, but I do think I'd enjoy having a drink with Jack and his lovely wife Reiko.
January 5, 2015
This was a great book. Funny and moving (I want a wolf, now). Some parts and language is definitely not very PC, but it was a different time, and while I'm not saying it was right or wrong, it in no way detracted from the tale being told. Read this book, you won't be disappointed.
Read
February 8, 2014This is on my wish list not because of the title but because of the reviews I've read.
January 22, 2016
This is the kind of passage you will find in this old school gem:
"Pilgrims, or Puritans (you have a choice in what you want to call them), in order to escape persecution in England had come here to try a little of it themselves... later on, when they had more leisure, they started to believe in witches - which led to some great fun for the Pilgrims and the Puritans."
He basically makes fun of everyone, even himself. He does use words of the time, which weren't as PC as our culture has become used to. But he is fair in his comedic meanderings, as he made sure to poke fun at the world at large.
Sorry, not much content in the way of Jewish-Japanese sex or cookbooks. But the wolf raising stories and humor were worth the read.
"Pilgrims, or Puritans (you have a choice in what you want to call them), in order to escape persecution in England had come here to try a little of it themselves... later on, when they had more leisure, they started to believe in witches - which led to some great fun for the Pilgrims and the Puritans."
He basically makes fun of everyone, even himself. He does use words of the time, which weren't as PC as our culture has become used to. But he is fair in his comedic meanderings, as he made sure to poke fun at the world at large.
Sorry, not much content in the way of Jewish-Japanese sex or cookbooks. But the wolf raising stories and humor were worth the read.
Want to read
January 13, 2014Added to my shelves for the title alone!
February 6, 2018
Haven’t read it.
February 16, 2025
This is the book Ancient Kabbalists were trying to hide from the gentiles.
September 28, 2010
I found a copy of this book in the hospital. Someone may have felt charitable donating this book, but as bad as this book is their charity means as much as sharing the flu.
First, it's racist crap. Haha jokes at bad stereotypes. Second, the plot is threadbare crap. But most of all there's the awful humor. All the ribald insults and wit scorn no one more than the reader.
If you're stuck in a hospital with nothing but this book, don't bother. You'll find a better story reading your own palm.
First, it's racist crap. Haha jokes at bad stereotypes. Second, the plot is threadbare crap. But most of all there's the awful humor. All the ribald insults and wit scorn no one more than the reader.
If you're stuck in a hospital with nothing but this book, don't bother. You'll find a better story reading your own palm.
December 16, 2021
The writing style Jack Douglas uses in this book and his style of humor are EXACTLY my cup of tea and I spent much of the time reading this story laughing out loud. I thoroughly enjoyed this and if you have a dry, sarcastic way of thinking about the world this is the book for you! If you can get your hands on a copy I entice you to give it a look.
April 5, 2025
Je ne peux pas dire comment/quand/pourquoi j’ai lu ce livre mais c’était insane. 11/10
October 12, 2014
Ok, the title suckered me in, along with the fact that he was writing about raising wolves. This book came out in the 1970s and I kept wondering if he'd even be allowed to do this today. There are a lot of deplorable people depicted in this book, and the drinking and racial-epithet-spewing reflect the social mores of the time. It just wasn't my bag.
January 1, 2015
Great title, but a misleading one. Is very much of its time, with the humour perhaps not sitting so well forty- something years later.
Still laughed at times.
Still laughed at times.
Read
February 5, 2015i find this at the library and i want to see if my dong will expand so thta i can feed it to my wolves using traditional japanese jewish cooking after i meet with my many wives because i am mormon
January 12, 2017
I had higher hopes for this book. I honestly wanted to read the whole thing but I just couldn't. THe title is amazing, the book itself not so much.
August 17, 2017
Not a self-help book. It's supposed to be humorous fiction, but it's a little too dated for me to get the groovy jokes.
November 19, 2024
Perhaps one of the greatest titles ever conceived. I, like many others, picked this book up for that reason alone. The story within does not live up to the title's promise. That's not to say it's a bad story. It's just that good a title.
The author, Jack Douglas, is a humorist who worked for Jack Benny and others in the mid-20th century (writing that feels weird!). The story is told from his direct perspective and in many ways reads like (and likely is) a caricatured memoir.
Published in 1972, there is plenty of heart and humor, and outdated societal norms. While the butt of the jokes are the well-meaning, though inept and entitled "activists" (read: slacktivists), the vernacular and attitudes of late-1960s, post-Rat Pack, cocktail culture abound. Epitaphs are occasionally dropped, the three LGBT characters are presented in negative stereotypes (as are the other characters, though these cut deeper), and the misogyny is ceaseless. I found myself deliberately repeating the mantra, "product of its time," through some of the scenes.
Setting that aside, the story at the book's core is a sweet one as Jack and his family adopt a pet wolf. The narrator is dedicated to the care and preservation of wildlife, often at the expense of the care of the humans around him. The story flows like a series of humor-page columns that describe the adoption, care, and eventual release of "Wolf," the family pet wolf, and his brood. All this is done under the alcohol-fueled scrutiny of the local ecology group.
The narrator's love for his family and his pack is laid bare in the text. Consistently funny (until the final act), frequently offensive, and occasionally vulnerable, this is a quick, entertaining read for those who can stomach peak-boomer culture.
The author, Jack Douglas, is a humorist who worked for Jack Benny and others in the mid-20th century (writing that feels weird!). The story is told from his direct perspective and in many ways reads like (and likely is) a caricatured memoir.
Published in 1972, there is plenty of heart and humor, and outdated societal norms. While the butt of the jokes are the well-meaning, though inept and entitled "activists" (read: slacktivists), the vernacular and attitudes of late-1960s, post-Rat Pack, cocktail culture abound. Epitaphs are occasionally dropped, the three LGBT characters are presented in negative stereotypes (as are the other characters, though these cut deeper), and the misogyny is ceaseless. I found myself deliberately repeating the mantra, "product of its time," through some of the scenes.
Setting that aside, the story at the book's core is a sweet one as Jack and his family adopt a pet wolf. The narrator is dedicated to the care and preservation of wildlife, often at the expense of the care of the humans around him. The story flows like a series of humor-page columns that describe the adoption, care, and eventual release of "Wolf," the family pet wolf, and his brood. All this is done under the alcohol-fueled scrutiny of the local ecology group.
The narrator's love for his family and his pack is laid bare in the text. Consistently funny (until the final act), frequently offensive, and occasionally vulnerable, this is a quick, entertaining read for those who can stomach peak-boomer culture.
August 27, 2021
This one doesn’t live up to its intriguing title at all, except for the raising wolves part, but it kept me interested and turning pages regardless. There was no sex in this book, but rather a self absorbed husband who goes against his wife’s wishes and acquires a wolf pup, pretty much assuring that he will not have any sex. There was also nary a recipe in sight, but even with all of these undercut expectations, it was funny. I usually can’t stand self-proclaimed funny books because they are usually just plain corny and they milk the same jokes again and again. This one made me laugh a little, but it was also offensive, but then it was published in 1972 when people were pretty clueless about things. I like how Douglas makes fun of all the yuppies in the ecological group who want to save every obscure species of bird, squirrel, wolf, and skink, but they can hardly save themselves nor admit what dreadful narcissists, bores, and alcoholics they really are. I wouldn’t call this a page turner in the typical sense, more like a train wreck that I couldn’t look away from. It was also somewhat original, and the wolves were some of the best characters, and they moved me in the end.
Want to read
May 6, 2020ok i’ve never read the book i just think it’s hilarious that i’m jewish and my gf is Japanese and i cook a lot and we both have dogs and we live in CT
August 6, 2024
Unexpected, but then didn't know what I expected. Fun. Funny. Read exactly how you'd imagine a book titled like this would read.
For the full review:
https://youtu.be/zUnGCthmKew
For the full review:
https://youtu.be/zUnGCthmKew
March 10, 2025
Pretty good
April 29, 2025
not enough sex and cook book
to many wolfs
to many wolfs
Read
February 16, 2017I've had this on my shelf for a couple of years - bought it second hand from the public library. My niece mentioned the title and I thought I better get to it and read it. Not a compelling read but interesting - sort of along the lines of a Farley Mowat book. The author has a unique sense of humour and a strange sense of what is normal.
Finished! This wasn't a deep or complex book but interesting and funny - hard to tell where reality ended and the embellishments began - like listening to an older relative tell a story that gets better every time ^_^
Finished! This wasn't a deep or complex book but interesting and funny - hard to tell where reality ended and the embellishments began - like listening to an older relative tell a story that gets better every time ^_^
May 4, 2023
Honestly, the title was the funniest part of the whole book. It wasn't a BAD read, but it wasn't all that special either. I can understand why it's out of print, and I'm glad I was able to borrow a copy from the library rather than spending $150+ on a used copy.
There wasn't anything in there about cooking and not much about sex. There were definitely Jewish characters and a Japanese character, but they didn't have sex so there wasn't any "Jewish-Japanese sex." Nor were there recipes for kosher sushi or any other sort of "Jewish Japanese cooking." There was plenty of sexual innuendo and mentions of cooking, but not instructions for either one.
Surprisingly, there actually was a lot in there about raising wolves! This book is essentially a memoir of a time in the author's life when he raised "pet" wolves. And a great deal of the jokes just don't age well. There are negative views of women and gay people; all "joking" of course, which made for perfectly acceptable comedy at the time the book was written but is cringe-worthy now.
There wasn't anything in there about cooking and not much about sex. There were definitely Jewish characters and a Japanese character, but they didn't have sex so there wasn't any "Jewish-Japanese sex." Nor were there recipes for kosher sushi or any other sort of "Jewish Japanese cooking." There was plenty of sexual innuendo and mentions of cooking, but not instructions for either one.
Surprisingly, there actually was a lot in there about raising wolves! This book is essentially a memoir of a time in the author's life when he raised "pet" wolves. And a great deal of the jokes just don't age well. There are negative views of women and gay people; all "joking" of course, which made for perfectly acceptable comedy at the time the book was written but is cringe-worthy now.
October 8, 2014
It helps to read Jack Douglas' books in light of the decades they were written in. They're rife with silly humor punctuated with an occasional exposure of his deep love for his family. His humor isn't for everyone but it's G-rated, if a bit politically incorrect here in the twenty-first century.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews