One of Roth’s books you are most likely to find in used shops seems like it would be completely uninteresting … a 30+ year old satire of the Nixon Administration. And while, yes, there’s one or two Agnew jokes that’ll go over your head unless you’re paying close attention, this is actually a timeless and very funny little book about the stupidity of power and malleability of political speech.
In this book we see how positions are twisted around (the My Lai massacre ought to delight leftwingers, as Lt. Calley provided abortion on demand) or can be twisted around (Nixon’s run for “top Devil” in Hell) with a comic absurdity that is only one small ste away from reality.
This book was written pre-Watergate, which means its source material are Nixon outrages that’ve been somewhat diluted over time. There are also some prescient moments with more than one passing reference to a need to resign office.
All in all, this is some funny shit. One wonders what would happen if Roth turned his pen on W.
