Synopses & Reviews
When the renowned aviation hero and rabid isolationist Charles A. Lindbergh defeated Franklin Roosevelt by a landslide in the 1940 presidential election, fear invaded every Jewish household in America. Not only had Lindbergh, in a nationwide radio address, publicly blamed the Jews for selfishly pushing America toward a pointless war with Nazi Germany, but upon taking office as the thirty-third president of the United States, he negotiated a cordial "understanding" with Adolf Hitler, whose conquest of Europe and virulent anti-Semitic policies he appeared to accept without difficulty.
What followed in America is the historical setting for this startling new book by the Pulitzer Prize winner Philip Roth, who recounts what it was like for his Newark family--and for a million such families all over the country--during the menacing years of the Lindbergh presidency, when American citizens who happened to be Jews had every reason to expect the worst.
Synopsis
In this alternate history, Pulitzer Prize-winner Roth considers what it would be like for his Newark family--and for a million such families all over the country--during the menacing years of a Charles Lindbergh presidency, when American citizens who happened to be Jews would have every reason to expect the worst. Unabridged. 11CDs.
About the Author
Philip Roth retired from teaching as a Distinguished Professor of Literature at Hunter College in 1992 after many years of teaching comparative literature -- mostly at the University of Pennsylvania. Until 1989, he was General Editor of the Penguin book series "Writers from the Other Europe," which he inaugurated in 1974 and which introduced the work of Bruno Schulz and Milan Kundera to an American audience. Since 1970 he has been a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In the 1990s, Philip Roth published five major works: PATRIMONY(1991) won the National Book Critics Circle Award; OPERATION SHYLOCK (1993) won the PEN/Faulkner Award; Sabbath's Theater (1995) won the National Book Award; AMERICAN PASTORAL (1997) won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction; and I MARRIED A COMMUNIST (1998) won the Ambassador Award of the English-Speaking Union. Previously Roth won the National Book Critics Circle Award for THE COUNTERLIFE (1986) and the National Book Award for GOODBYE, COLUMBUS (1959). His work has been acclaimed around the world, and in 1998 he received the National Medal of Arts at the White House. Philip Roth was born in Newark, New Jersey, in 1933 and has lived in Rome, London, Chicago, and New York. He resides now in Connecticut.