Fast, Howard (Melvin) | Clifton Fadiman
CLIFTON FADIMAN
I propose Howard Fast as one of America's most important historical novelists. For one thing, he is almost alone in his ability to relate a historical narrative in around three hundred pages, so reading him amounts to something less than a lifework. More weighty, however, is the fact that he always penetrates to the heart of our history. His interest lies in the projection of meaningful men involved in a meaningful situation. His mind has a clarity which is almost cold at times and never charming. You cannot go to him for the warm details of historical costume, slang, or local and temporal color. He values intelligence above the picturesque. Perhaps he will never be overwhelmingly popular….
"Citizen Tom Paine" novelizes the miserable, glorious life of the first American to understand that our Revolution was a small part of a continuing process…. (p. 73)
Paine appears as a fool on occasion, a weakling on occasion, a bad politician...
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