From the Bookshelf of Around the World in 80 Books…
Find A Copy At
Group Discussions About This Book
No group discussions for this book yet.
What Members Thought

Not my favorite Roth. It's actually pretty good up until you get the actual "plot." The plot itself, once revealed seemed silly and fragile, but up until that point Roth constructs a very plausible What-if alternative history, which has Lindbergh winning an election against FDR. Implausible? Maybe, but keep in mind that this was written well before 2016, so reading the novel now leaves you feeling the author was downright prescient.
...more

I almost didn't finish this but I'm glad I did. It's my first Roth.
It's so heartbreaking, violence, when it's in a house--like seeing the clothes in a tree after an explosion. You may be prepared to see death but not the clothes in the tree.
They recruited the most supple and athletic of the cops to train as mounted policemen, and a small kid could be mesmerized just watching one who'd been lazing majestically down the street stop to write a parking ticket and then lean way over in the saddle so ...more
It's so heartbreaking, violence, when it's in a house--like seeing the clothes in a tree after an explosion. You may be prepared to see death but not the clothes in the tree.
They recruited the most supple and athletic of the cops to train as mounted policemen, and a small kid could be mesmerized just watching one who'd been lazing majestically down the street stop to write a parking ticket and then lean way over in the saddle so ...more

This work of fiction is interesting, but for me alternate histories needs to have conclusive proofs to prove the presented option is both plausible and likely. In here, the alternate history might have happened but it is quite unlikely. And Mr. Roth is doing very little to change this.
I can understand the fear that American Jews might have felt it in the early '40s as antisemitism ravaged Europe and Asia. Still, the fear for a thing does not justify entirely to think that it might have happened. ...more
I can understand the fear that American Jews might have felt it in the early '40s as antisemitism ravaged Europe and Asia. Still, the fear for a thing does not justify entirely to think that it might have happened. ...more

May 01, 2011
Steve Anderson
marked it as to-read

Jan 31, 2013
Kim DeCina
marked it as to-read

Jul 04, 2013
Brian
marked it as to-read


Mar 19, 2014
Annie
marked it as 1001-list

Oct 05, 2017
Juliana Philippa
marked it as to-read

May 23, 2018
Guillermo
marked it as to-read

Dec 11, 2019
Jean-Marie
marked it as to-read

Jan 07, 2020
Sharon
marked it as to-read

Oct 25, 2021
Theresa Wright
marked it as to-read

Jul 12, 2024
Linda Martin
marked it as to-read