The Great American Novel

Written by Philip Roth

Narrated by James Daniels

From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Pastoral—a richly imagined novel featuring America’s only homeless big-league baseball team in history delivers “shameless comic extravagance…Roth gleefully exploits our readiness to let baseball stand for America itself”—The New York Times.

Gil Gamesh, the only pitcher who ever literally tried to kill the umpire. The ex-con first baseman, John Baal, “The Babe Ruth of the Big House,” who never hit a home run sober. If you’ve never heard of them—or of the homeless baseball team the Ruppert Mundys—it’s because of the Communist plot, and the capitalist scandal, that expunged the entire Patriot League from baseball memory.

In this ribald, wickedly satiric novel, Roth turns baseball’s status as national pastime and myth into an occasion for unfettered picaresque farce, replete with heroism and perfidy, ebullient wordplay and a cast of characters that includes the House Un-American Activities Committee.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Blackstone Publishing
• Release date: Jul 2, 2024
• ISBN: 9798212383448

Philip Roth

PHILIP ROTH (1933–2018) won the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral in 1997. In 1998 he received the National Medal of Arts at the White House and in 2002 the highest award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Gold Medal in Fiction, previously awarded to John Dos Passos, William Faulkner and Saul Bellow, among others. He twice won the National Book Award, the PEN/Faulkner Award, and the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2005 The Plot Against America received the Society of American Historians' Prize for "the outstanding historical novel on an American theme for 2003–2004" and the W.H. Smith Award for the Best Book of the Year, making Roth the first writer in the forty-six-year history of the prize to win it twice. In 2005 Roth became the third living American writer to have his works published in a comprehensive, definitive edition by the Library of America. In 2011 he received the National Humanities Medal at the White House, and was later named the fourth recipient of the Man Booker International Prize. In 2012 he won Spain's highest honor, the Prince of Asturias Award, and in 2013 he received France's highest honor, Commander of the Legion of Honor.

Reviews for The Great American Novel

[Ingeniando Ando · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ernest Hemingway, discussing with a sports columnist named Word Smith, questions whether the great American Novel has already been written. Could Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Mark Twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, or Herman Melville's Moby Dick be considered as such? The conclusion is that it has not yet been achieved, and Hem predicts that it will be written by his friend Smith, or Smitty as he is known. This will be the prologue to the story that Smitty begins to narrate, particularly on the topic that interests him the most: "Baseball." He will narrate the story of the Patriot League, specifically the 1943 season and a team called the Ruppert Mundys who will break all negative records in the history of this sport. He will recount the lives of the team members, revealing their peculiarities, eccentricities, and their darker sides, all mixed with funny anecdotes and references to great legends of the sport such as Babe Ruth or Ty Cobb, to name a few.

This is a great book, where Philip Roth develops an entertaining story that skillfully mixes the themes he is most passionate about: literature and baseball, the latter being the great pastime of Americans. Personally, I also enjoyed this reading as it is a gem, and like the author, I am a fan of letters and the game of ball. (Translated from Spanish)

[plaidapple · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

For me the entire story of this book is that it ultimately fails as a satire. While there are certainly jabs at American sports culture and capitalism, it overall comes off as ugly, unfocused and unwilling to stake a declarative stance on much of anything, preferring to couch and coddle any true satirical criticism in borderline unreadable "baseball" writing.

(I also agree with other reviewers on the racist and sexist language, and being unable to entirely untangle that as a satirical element within this text.)

I'm a sports fan and a reader of a fair few postmodern books, but this is a non-starter from me. Flashes of intrigue do not make the 400-odd pages worth it. I understand that Philip Roth is a highly decorated writer, but this is the first book of his I've read and I will not be picking any more of his writing up until I can wash the taste of this out of my mouth. Wish I'd started on reading his works with something better.

[aliceanna-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book 30 years ago. Now, not so much. So much ugly misogynism and racism. I'm glad I've grown past my apathy and detachment as it pertains to gross caricatures. What I do love about this book is the better use of language, particularly the orgy of alliteration in the early pages of the book, and the over-the-top satire on baseball. But I just couldn't get past calling women "slits." Call me too PC. I'm OK with that.

[nohablo · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

At times screamingly funny with a razor-lined sardonic edge, but overwhelmed by, you know, the screaming racism and misogyny that never entirely subsides! You spend a lot of time wondering how much of it is intentional and tongue-in-cheek, especially given Roth's reputation for being an equal opportunity smart-ass without any ties to, you know, the Aryan Brotherhood! But then you reach the part where Mister Fairsmith ventures into the black heart of Africa to spread the gospel of baseball (Really.) and it is basically like watching BIRTH OF A NATION narrated by a cackling David Duke and your eyes roll into the back of your head and you want to go back in time and punch Roth in the throat and/or drop him into Compton and wash your hands of his bullshit.

So, yes, the wondering subsides because, really, when something is that mean and that petty in order to get a laugh? Well, fuck the author's original intentions, because we're reading it NOW, and it reads incredibly ugly, and - basically!- no, Grandma, please don't tell your joke about the five Negroes again.

Also, my affection for the good bits (and they are good! and there are insights! and some of it is achingly great!) tempered by the fact that I couldn't give a rat's ass about baseball. So. Yeah. Mixed feelings?

[the_awesome_opossum · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The Great American Novel is a satire about baseball as not just America's national pastime, but the national religion. Coupled with the paranoia of Communism, Roth paints a ridiculous picture of the panic and frenzy gripping our country fifty years ago.

Sadly, the plot never really comes together for the book (probably partly because of the...dubiousness of its claims, and we're supposed to understand the narrator as addled anyway). The story instead is framed in biographies and anecdotes about the Patriot League's (the *third* baseball league which the Communists destroyed) most memorable players.

There were some amusing parts, and no lack of colorful characters, but other portions of the book just dragggged. I'm not sure it was worth 400 pages and the time I spent on it.