Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Company : New York, 2004
In this stunning and compelling novel, acclaimed author Phillip Roth creates a mesmerizing alternate world , in which Charles Lindbergh defeats Franklin D Roosevelt in the 1940 presidential election, Incorporating Lindbergh's actual radio address, in which he accused the British and the Jews of trying to force America into a foreign war, Roth builds an eerily logical narrative that shows how isolationists in and out of government, emboldened by Lindbergh's blatant anti-Semitism, enact new laws and create an atmosphere of religious hatred that culminates in nationwide pogroms.
The sympathetic young narrator, Phil, views the developing crisis through the lens of his family life and his own boyish concerns. In the Roth family's once secure and stable Jewish neighbourhood in New Jersey, the world is descending into a nightmare of confusion, fear, and unpredictability.
But though the situation is bleak and angst-filled, this is not a despairing tale; suspenseful, hopeful, and often humorous, it engages readers in many ways. This thought-provoking "alternate biography" makes the reader consider the nature of history, present times, and possible futures.
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