The Great American Novel (Masterplots II: American Fiction Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Philip Roth
- First Published: 1973
- Type of Plot: Social satire
- Time of Work: 1943-1944, with flashbacks to the early decades of the twentieth century
- Setting: Various cities in the eastern and midwestern United States
- Principal Characters: Word Smith (Smitty), General Douglas O. Oakhart, Gil Gamesh, Ulysses S. Fairsmith, Mike Masterson, Roland Agni, Angela Whitling Trust
- Genres: Long fiction, Satire
- Subjects: United States or Americans, Communism or communists, Literature, 1940’s, Wit or humor, Baseball
- Locales: East (U.S.), Midwest (U.S.)
The Novel
The Great American Novel is the story of the bumbling Ruppert Mundys baseball club and of the Patriot Baseball League. In a lengthy prologue, aging sportswriter Word Smith (Smitty) recalls the greatness of the league, hints at the reasons for its demise, and bemoans the attempts by Americans of all walks of life to erase the league from memory. His mission is to preserve this part of American history: The story which makes up the novel proper is his account of the league’s demise.
The main action of the novel occurs in 1943 and 1944, though numerous...
[The entire page is 2663 words long]
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