Philip Roth

Smitty’s curse (the labor of writing)

Literary allusions and references provided

The lie of Hall of Fame “memories” is revealed

The history of the Patriot League explained

Characters of General Oakhart, Gil Gamesh, and Ulysses S. Fairsmith and Glorious Mundy introduced

Explanation of stadium sale and Mundys’ homeless condition

Introduction of assorted odd-ball Mundys players

Losing, synthetic Wheaties, and sexual escapades are a focus

Team and league begin an inevitable slide of deterioration

The new leader of the team Gil Gamesh and the innocent and honest Roland Agni are introduced

Team relies on dirty tactics and begins winning

Roland opposes the team’s new moral direction

Roland is assassinated in the middle of a game

Congressional investigations end with ten Mundys being imprisoned

League cities change their name: Port Ruppert becomes Newark, New Jersey

The possible inability to write the great American novel

The demythologizing of writing itself as myth

The difficulty of revealing truth in the face of mass deception

Memories as a means of retaining joy but from a wiser and more weary perspectiv

. . .
uthor’s demythologizing of the “American Dream” and many values typically associated with democracy and capitalism, I disagree with the thesis because I find it a critique without any form of redemption. In the novel we are not provided with any kind of resolution or alternative proposal to the kind of society and system that Roth appears to find in a great state of deterioration. Like the death of the Mundy’s, the novel sees the death of American society – at least the death of alleged values it holds high and promises. However, while such a condition may be ripe for satire, to criticize it without providing an improved alternative smacks of a lack of hope to me. While American society may have serious issues challenging its way of government and life, I still find it the best country offering the most benefits to its citizens in the world. The author employs a variety of literary devices that turn the work into an absurd farce, a point that underscores his perspective of the myths incorporated in U.S. society. Satire is, of course, his most relied upon device to portray the story. His use of nonsensical language is meant to underscore the absurdity of the human condition. When Smitty describes fans he uses nearly every a
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Some common words found in the essay are:
American Dream, Latin Americans, Glorious Mundy, Word Smith, Thumbs Roper, Jersey Epilogue, Roland Agni, Hippogriff Roth, Ulysses Fairsmith, American Novel, american novel, roth 1995, american dream, ulysses fairsmith, roth american novel, inability write, american society, gil gamesh, write american, americans relate, deterioration death, write american novel, inability write american,
Approximate Word count = 1375
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page)

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