Our Gang

Rating:
Summary: Very dated satire.
Review: Definitely one of Roth's lesser books, "Our Gang," written almost entirely in dialogue, purports to be a pox-on-all-your-houses take on the Nixon Administration. Unfortunately, it's chiefly notable for being one of the most heavy-handed satires in memory, as Roth repeatedly extends promisingly witty riffs well past the point of endurance. The over-the-top finale completely jumps the rails. Hard-core Nixon haters might like it--but don't you have better things to do with your time?

Rating:
Summary: Tricky for those who don't get it...
Review: I have a great affinity for this book for a few reasons, the biggest being there is no longer such scathing political satire that is created in so many layers like this little missive from Roth. The media, literary world, and even the OpEds in many newspapers forget the power wielded and the passion invocked by a well-crafted satire instead of mud slinging and innuendo. The story of Trick E. Dixon and his fervent and funny fight for the sanctity of human life as well as the right to kill anyone who disagrees is the perfect paradox of politics. The persona of Richard Nixon, love him or hate him, is the perfect foil for this kind of dialogue/novel and it is an eerie historical note when so very much of the spirit of Trick E. Dixon was soon to be exposed in our own president. If you vote, read this book. If you don't, shame on you!

Rating:
Summary: On The Comeback Trail, Or Tricky In Hell
Review: I picked up this book at a library sale for ten cents. It was amazing! The satire is about much more than Richard Nixon's personal crimes. It's about how politicians use stock phrases and ideas to sell just about any form of cowardice and corruption. Make no mistake, Richard Nixon is not the only target here. Roth slashes the fatuous pieties of network news with tremendous effectiveness -- he really skewers the mock gravitas of talking heads like Tom and Dan and all the rest. His take on the media's "all is well" mentality has never been more timely. "Yet corruption there has been before, and the nation survives."

The book does have weak passages, like the whole Curt Flood abortion and Boy Scout murder routine, which drags on and on. And a lot of Roth's gibes at Tricky for being a "closet queer" are painfully homophobic and shallow.

But the final chapter, "On The Comeback Trail, or Tricky In Hell" is really a stand alone masterpiece. Tricky gives a speech which is utterly demonic and yet filled with Cold War rhetoric that would have been absolutely appropriate for any politician from Eisenhower to Reagan. "We cannot be triumphant over goodness with a strategy of simply holding the line."

Brilliant stuff!

Rating:
Summary: A Favorite Topic
Review: In a world which cries out for critical analysis, a certain pride belongs to those who consider this book both comic and intellectual. The most obvious joke, whenever something might make the people of a truly great country feel guilty, couldn't be left unsaid until some person had the nerve to show how a comedian would have come right out and said it. Living in a comic society, full of celebrities with a reputation for having great feelings, the ultimate intellectual should also be capable of illustrating the guilt felt by everybody and his brother, when observing the behavior exhibited by an obviously tricky character. But anyone who actually took a part in grabbing the media and beating it might find that this practice is habit-forming, as any profession is in danger of becoming a habit after awhile. The other topic of this book is the sanctity of human life, but the story is really much too political for that. I have a tendency to laugh, and the last laugh might belong to those who can still remember how many years have gone by since we read this book.

Rating:
Summary: A funny and prophetic satire
Review: Philip Roth is one of the great writers of his time. He has gained a mass audience while still retaining his credibility as a "serious" author, worthy of critical consideration. That's pretty hard to do.

This book, the first of Roth's that I read, showed me his reputation was well earned. The satire was over-the-top, but Roth knew just when to pull back a little to avoid it from diving into Marx Brothers territory. The characterizations of Nixon and his administration are dead on. I loved how the story gradually became more and more absurd until reaching a crescendo at the end.

What impressed me even more is that Roth wrote this book before Nixon's ouster. Reading it with that knowledge, one has to feel kind of spooked that so many things in this book actually turned out to be true.

With all that, this book still manages to be a light and funny read. I would recommend it to all.

Rating:
Summary: okay
Review: This is wild, satirical look at the Nixon administration and it is hilarious. Roth scalds Nixon and his felonious cronies with absurd scenarios and commentary. Ultimately every presidential adminstration could receive similar literary treatment for their vapid pronouncements and high and mighty attitude, but the Nixon persona lends itself perfectly to such an exercise. Clinton is a likely candidate for a future effort. If you are a political junky you particularly should enjoy this presidential farce.

Rating:
Summary: Scalding Satire
Review: This is wild, satirical look at the Nixon administration and it is hilarious. Roth scalds Nixon and his felonious cronies with absurd scenarios and commentary. Ultimately every presidential adminstration could receive similar literary treatment for their vapid pronouncements and high and mighty attitude, but the Nixon persona lends itself perfectly to such an exercise. Clinton is a likely candidate for a future effort. If you are a political junky you particularly should enjoy this presidential farce.

Rating:
Summary: okay
Review: Yes, this is very dated, but that makes it an interesting historical artifact. Yes, this is over-the-top, but it's over-the-top in an entertaining way. It's a light piece of comic fluff you'll finish easily in one sitting. I disagree, by the way, that one could in this manner satirize convincingly any American president. There has to be some core truth to exaggerate. In particular, I don't think Bill Clinton could be successfully subjected to this kind of treatment. There are only so many yucks you can squeeze out of Monica, and nobody ever REALLY cared about the affair anyway except (presumably) the principals and those vicious Republican corporate stooges (worthy of Nixon's Watergate henchmen) out to get Clinton by hook or by crook. It would also be difficult to subject Bush II to this kind of treatment, but for a different reason. Nearly everything Bush II does and says is ALREADY an exaggeration. The satirical Madison, Wisconsin weekly, The Onion, for example, ran a piece about Bush II immediately after he had...um...secured, let's say, the presidency with this headline: "Our long national nightmare of peace and prosperity is finally over". Okay, nice try, but, where's the exaggeration? The economy is in a tailspin; the surplus was handed over to the very, very wealthy and large corporations; pretty much all environmental protections are being systematically dismantled; and we are perpetually and permanently, it seems, at war. That's just not funny. In any case, read this book, but don't assume it typical of Philip Roth. It's very much a "one-off", as they say.