I don't know that I have anything to say about this novel. It's an early Roth and it makes me think that maybe I've kind of had my fill of Roth for a while. None of his other books have even come close to American Pastoral. Great American Novel is a total farce, but it's a joke that just went on far too long for me. Some of it was laugh out loud funny, but maybe I was expecting something else. Judging by other people's reaction to the book, I suspect that's the case. It's a book about a major league that was totally expunged from the historical record during World War II. One of the teams, the Port Rupert Mundys, set a record for ineptness and losing after they were kicked out of their home stadium for the duration of the war. Then when their beloved manager dies, a former player, Gil Gamesh, takes over the team as they begin spouting Marxist doctrine, hence the banishment of the league. Other players have similar mythological names, including the one armed right fielder, Bud Purusha, the pitcher Spit Baal, Smokey Woden, Mike Mazda, Chico Mecoatl, etc. And of course, the narrator of the story is the venerable sports writer, Word Smith. To be sure, there are good moments in the book, such as the famed outfielder who admits to his lover that he enjoys hitting triples more than making love to her, but it was just so over the top that I didn't find it all that enjoyable.
Author: Roth, Phillip
Date Published: 1973
Length: 14 hr 37 min
Narrator: Daniels, James
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