Where exactly has Roth gone after the "Old Left"? Of late, Roth has gone after New Left brats in _American Pastoral_, conservative hacks in _I Married a Communist_ and _The Human Stain_, and PC idiots (Stain, again). Worthy targets all, and Roth hits where most miss. He's an incredibly gifted mimic; even when he goes after your own pretensions and conceits in the form of one of his characters you have to admit that he can think and speak just like you. And he's not afraid to put convincing thoughts/words in the minds/mouths of characters he doesn't agree with. I suppose a Stalinist wouldn't treasure such intellectual daring, but I do. I can't wait to read _The Plot Against America_ (well, actually, I can and will wait, but I think I'll enjoy it once I read it).
-- Luke
Quoting "C. G. Estabrook" <galliher at alexia.lis.uiuc.edu>:
> [Recently in London I was astonished at how the British press was praising
> Philip Roth's new novel, The Plot Against America -- e.g., an excerpt in
> the Independent and a puff-piece in the Guardian
> <http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,12084,1300982,00.html>. His
> recent "political" novels have attacked the great evils of the age -- the
> New Left, the Old Left, and his ex-wife, Claire Bloom. Here's a review
> that also manages to propose a more just account of the anti-war movement
> of the 1930s. --CGE]
>
>