The Plot Against America

By: Philip Roth

Narrated by: Ron Silver

Brought to you by Penguin.

When celebrity aviator, Charles A. Lindbergh, wins the 1940 presidential election on the slogan of 'America First', fear invades every Jewish household. Not only has Lindbergh blamed the Jews for pushing America towards war with Germany, he has negotiated an 'understanding' with the Nazis promising peace between the two nations.

Growing up in the 'ghetto' of Newark, Philip Roth recounts his childhood caught in the stranglehold of this counterfactual nightmare. As America sinks into its own dark metamorphosis and Jewish families are torn apart, fear and uncertainty spread.

Who really is President Lindbergh?

And to what end has he hijacked America?
__________________________

'Many passages in The Plot Against America echo feelings voiced today by vulnerable Americans - immigrants and minorities as alarmed by Trump's election as the Jews of Newark are frightened by Lindbergh's' New Yorker

'He captures better than anyone the collision of public and private, the intrusion of history into the skin, the pores of every individual alive' Guardian

'Though on the morning after the election disbelief prevailed, especially among the pollsters, by the next everybody seemed to understand everything...'

**ONE OF THE GUARDIAN'S 100 BEST BOOKS OF THE 21st CENTURY**

©2016 Philip Roth (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

It’s one of the great political novels for its depiction of how alterations in power affect ordinary men and women, and how obedience brings disaster. (Linda Grant)

In his 2004 novel, The Plot Against America, Roth precisely described the sinister and chilling nightmare in which the United States now finds itself… America has not read enough of Philip Roth (Bernard-Henri Lévy)

A dark, humane masterpiece, Roth is at the peak of his powers

Another frighteningly intense performance

The word genius doesn't seem excessive... The Plot Against America creates its reality magisterially, in long, fluid sentences that carry you beyond scepticism

Untouchable...he is bequeathing us a body of work that adds up to the most accomplished dissection of American political, social and personal mores

Magnificent. Roth is writing the best books of his life. He captures better than anyone the collision of public and private, the intrusion of history into the skin, the pores of every individual alive

Subtle, persuasive and unsettling. A brilliantly troubling and heartening novel

Many passages in The Plot Against America echo feelings voiced today by vulnerable Americans – immigrants and minorities as alarmed by Trump’s election as the Jews of Newark are frightened by Lindbergh’s

Dazzling. The most exciting novelist writing today

Glorious

It’s a joy to read alternative history by one of the greatest novelists. Beautifully told,
Great narration. Wish it were even longer!

Not really going where promised

Though the story was intriguing, it wasn't really an alternate history tale in the historical sense of the word. It was a good Jewish tale of fear, hatred and the eternal struggle of belonging, but only by the end of the book the 'alternate history' part really took in. an Okay read and good narration but not the masterpiece it could have been.