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Steve
Mar 27, 2020 rated it liked it
Shelves: fiction
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
Daisy
Feb 21, 2020 rated it really liked it  ·  review of another edition
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
Bogdan
Mar 16, 2013 rated it it was ok  ·  review of another edition
Shelves: new-world
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
Mike
Jun 02, 2019 rated it liked it
The American President comes under the influence of a antagonistic foreign power and launches an anti-minority campaign which engulfs and divides the United States. How outlandish is that?!!!?..... oh, wait. :-(

Steve Anderson
May 01, 2011 marked it as to-read
Kent Winward
Feb 03, 2012 rated it really liked it
Amy W
Apr 11, 2012 marked it as to-read
Tanya
Dec 29, 2012 marked it as to-read
Shelves: list-1001-btrbyd
Kim DeCina
Jan 31, 2013 marked it as to-read
Terri
Apr 17, 2013 marked it as boxall-s-1001
Brian
Jul 04, 2013 marked it as to-read
Annie
Mar 19, 2014 marked it as 1001-list
Keith
Jul 20, 2015 rated it it was amazing  ·  review of another edition
Rachel N.
Jan 20, 2016 rated it did not like it
Keeley
Feb 03, 2017 marked it as to-read
Shelves: new-yorker
Juliana Philippa
Oct 05, 2017 marked it as to-read
Valerie
Jan 27, 2018 rated it liked it
Guillermo
May 23, 2018 marked it as to-read
Anu
Jul 25, 2018 rated it liked it  ·  review of another edition
Jessica
Aug 05, 2018 rated it really liked it
Jean-Marie
Dec 11, 2019 marked it as to-read
Natasha
Jan 03, 2020 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Sharon
Jan 07, 2020 marked it as to-read
Curlysue
Dec 20, 2020 marked it as to-read  ·  review of another edition
Theresa Wright
Oct 25, 2021 marked it as to-read
Linda Martin
Jul 12, 2024 marked it as to-read
silly_soup
Jul 21, 2024 marked it as to-read
Shelves: novels
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