The Plot Against America

Name: The Plot Against America
Author: Philip Roth

Philip Roth · 2004

Charles Lindbergh wins the 1940 presidential election and America slides toward fascism. Roth published this alternate history in 2004; by 2016 it was being read as prophecy. The genius is in the domestic scale. This is not a geopolitical thriller. It is a Newark Jewish family watching their neighbors turn against them, slowly, politely.

The case against

on the La Guardia speech
“It reads like a keynote address”
Erik Lundegaard · The Seattle Times, 2004
on the final chapters
“it quickly ran out of plot.”
a book blog
on Lindbergh’s presence
“Lindbergh is more a hovering presence than a character.”
Bob Minzesheimer · USA Today, 2004
on the alternate history
“Roth’s preparation of an alternative history is just a rearrangement of the furniture.”
Clive James · The Atlantic, 2004