The plot against America by Philip Roth

I came across this book shortly after Trump came to power. An in-depth interview with the author was featured in the Guardian where the book (published in 2004) was described as prophetic of the current state of affairs in the US.

The book is set in the late 1930s and early 1940s and chronicles the ascent to power of Charles Lindbergh. Based on true facts and real people it explores what would have happened if a FDR lost the 1932 election and a government friendly to Hitler rose to power. Whilst the story was fascinating and thought-provoking a struggled a bit to keep up with Roth’s long sentences. I can see why Roth said of Trump that his vocabulary is about 73 words deep (which it is). The book also made me wonder about what is happening today in the world which we take for granted and what new developments are taking place which we think are ‘normal’ but might have bigger consequences.

Fascinating read but still not a huge Roth fan.


Genre: fiction
Subjects: History, hitler, trump