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This is what it would be like if literary authors wrote Science Fiction. The concept is very much a Twilight Zone/Marvel Comics "What If?"/DC "Elseworlds" hypothesis of what might have occured had an anti-semitic Charles Lindbergh ran against and defeated FDR and as a result kept the US out of WWII. The execution is very much Philip Roth - showing this version of America through the eyes of Roth as a six year old boy living with his Jewish family in Newark, NJ.

Roth, for some reason, is hit or miss with me. I guess I sometimes can't connect with his constant ruminations on Jewish life in New Jersey but this really worked for me. Roth's family as depicted here are interesting, flawed and likeable. But Roth's greatest achievement here is his subtle use of an interesting concept to dig a little deeper into his favorite theme of Jewish life in 20th Century America.

Posted at August 2, 2005 07:50 PM

Not that I enjoy being a contrarian here, Rich, but I suggest checking out this Salon review http://archive.salon.com/books/feature/2004/10/11/crouch/index_np.html

(yes, I know, annoying ads must be bypassed to read it)

about Roth's book. Salon makes a fair case that its awfully foolish history, positing that American anti-semitism was more powerful than the virulent racism that went to the deep-bored core of the South, and much more of the country at the time. That being said, The Plot Against America did have a cool concept, and *did* remind me of a what if?!? type story. Charles Lindbergh becomes a villain! Whatever shall we do now!

Posted by: Brent at August 2, 2005 10:07 PM

Eh, Salon tends to be contrarian for contrary's sake anyway. I couldn't get the Free Pass to work to read the article but I'm not sure why they would expect a fictional history of WWII-era America written by a Jewish American author to focus on racial segregation rather than anti-semitism.

Posted by: Rich at August 3, 2005 04:09 PM