The Plot Against America (Vintage International)
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The chilling bestselling alternate history novel of what happens to one family when America elects a charismatic, isolationist president whose government embraces anti-Semitism—from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Pastoral.
“A terrific political novel.... Sinister, vivid, dreamlike...You turn the pages, astonished and frightened.” —The New York Times Book Review
One of the New York Times’s 100 Best Books of the 21st Century
In an extraordinary feat of narrative invention, Philip Roth imagines an alternate history where Franklin D. Roosevelt loses the 1940 presidential election to heroic aviator and rabid isolationist Charles A. Lindbergh. Shortly thereafter, Lindbergh negotiates a cordial "understanding" with Adolf Hitler, while the new government embarks on a program of folksy anti-Semitism.
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Community Reviews
I had watched the miniseries - I kind of wish I hadn't. I think that knowing what was going to happen, because the miniseries was fairly faithful to the broad plot, did somewhat take the drama out of reading the book. Reading did provide some more nuance, particularly to the psychology of the narrator, but not an eye-opening amount.
However, the story itself is very eye-opening, at least if your eyes aren't already open. There are a plethora of contemporary parallels going on across the country right now. Hopefully the martial law stuff doesn't happen, but then again National Guards have already been deployed. US Citizens have been killed. Minorities have been ostracized and vilified and condemned to live in fear, even if they've 'assimilated' and are one of the 'good ones'. The only major difference is the present day version of the book's Lindberg is less robotic and more moronic. So if you're looking for escapism, this is not for you. If you're looking for an idea of what it feels like to be afraid in your own home, then it is.
Very well written. I will warn you that some of the sentences are ridiculous - 19 or 30 lines long. Just epic in length, with multiple digressions. They usually flow quite well. It's a step below a page turner, but only a step. But you will sometimes run into an issue or two if you aren't fully focused or aren't used to reading those sorts of epic but grammatically correct sentences.
However, the story itself is very eye-opening, at least if your eyes aren't already open. There are a plethora of contemporary parallels going on across the country right now. Hopefully the martial law stuff doesn't happen, but then again National Guards have already been deployed. US Citizens have been killed. Minorities have been ostracized and vilified and condemned to live in fear, even if they've 'assimilated' and are one of the 'good ones'. The only major difference is the present day version of the book's Lindberg is less robotic and more moronic. So if you're looking for escapism, this is not for you. If you're looking for an idea of what it feels like to be afraid in your own home, then it is.
Very well written. I will warn you that some of the sentences are ridiculous - 19 or 30 lines long. Just epic in length, with multiple digressions. They usually flow quite well. It's a step below a page turner, but only a step. But you will sometimes run into an issue or two if you aren't fully focused or aren't used to reading those sorts of epic but grammatically correct sentences.
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