The classic novel The Ecstasy of Owen Muir is the story of what happens in 1940s America when an idealistically, fiercely honest young man, with no strong religious affiliation, marries a Roman Catholic woman. In this brilliantly comic and pungent tale, Lardner dissects the thought control of the McCarthy era, business ethics, racial intolerance, attitudes toward sex, the Manhattan nightclub set, judicial procedures, and other social phenomenon. The author is a former Hollywood screenwriter who won Academy Awards for "Woman of the Year" in 1942 and "MASH" in 1970.