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It deserves all the accolades and I intend to dive right into Independence Day and Lay of the Land, but I couldn't disagree more with the reviews that call Bascombe "heroic." And if I have any understanding of what Ford intended with the character, he must be grinning with ironic satisfaction at that characterization. Bascombe abandons everybody and everything to which he owes any obligation for the sake of his own equilibrium. That sort of narcissism definitely HAS passed for heroism in America, especially in the quarter-century of Reaganism in which the novels are set. Especially looking back from our new Obamist perch, I hope people will see the Bascombe of Sportswriter as a model of how NOT to live life.
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The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
rgippin, May 21, 2009
It deserves all the accolades and I intend to dive right into Independence Day and Lay of the Land, but I couldn't disagree more with the reviews that call Bascombe "heroic." And if I have any understanding of what Ford intended with the character, he must be grinning with ironic satisfaction at that characterization. Bascombe abandons everybody and everything to which he owes any obligation for the sake of his own equilibrium. That sort of narcissism definitely HAS passed for heroism in America, especially in the quarter-century of Reaganism in which the novels are set. Especially looking back from our new Obamist perch, I hope people will see the Bascombe of Sportswriter as a model of how NOT to live life.(17 of 39 readers found this comment helpful)