#The Plot Against America

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ANTHONY BOYLE: A WEE SELECTION*:･ﾟ✧ for his 30th birthday — june 8th 2024 🎂

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ANTHONY BOYLE as ALVIN LEVIN in THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA (2020)

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Irish boys in the white house

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@jackbaraks heyyy viola...u seen this??👀

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Michael Cerveris and Morgan Spector, who would later star in the Gilded Age together.

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"When Sandy was my age, he used to arm himself against his brand of fear by barreling down the cellar stairs shouting, 'Bad guys! I know you're down there! I've got a gun!' while I would descend whispering, 'I'm sorry for whatever I did that was wrong.'"

-- The Plot Against America, Philip Roth

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if I had a nickel for every show I watched where Anthony Boyle played a character who served in WWII I’d have 2 nickels which isn’t a lot but it’s weird that it’s happened twice

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Okay, after 4 episodes of The Plot Against America, I feel totally depressed now.

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The Plot Against America by Philip Roth imagines an alternate 1940s where Charles Lindbergh has been elected President of the United States. This is my review.

I have a bit of a habit about putting books that are popular or widely praised. I don't consciously avoid them, it just kind of happens that way. Still, I get around to them eventually. Occasionally they're underwhelming, but more often than not, I do genuinely enjoy them. Such is the case with The Plot Against America by Philip Roth. 

The Plot Against America begins in an alternate 1940. Celebrity aviator Charles Lindbergh has been elected President of the United States in a landslide victory over incumbent president Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Lindbergh has pledged to keep America out of the war in Europe and the Pacific. In fact, he's signed a non-aggression treaty with Germany and Japan. Still, many Americans, particularly Jewish American, worry that Lindbergh is getting a little too chummy with the Axis Powers. The story follows the turbulent years of the Lindbergh Administration through the eyes of young Philip Roth and his family.

This was one of those books that wasn't too high on my reading list until it was. I can't say what exactly prompted me to give this one a try. Maybe it was the miniseries adaption that HBO put out. I haven't watched the miniseries yet, but I do plan to. Maybe it was the various alternate history Facebook groups I take part in. Maybe it was something else entirely. Honestly, I can't really say. I will say that this book being part of the Audible Plus Catalogue was a nice bonus. Audible Plus is a new thing that Audible is doing. It's like Netflix, but with audiobooks.

Whatever the reason, I finally gave The Plot Against America a try, and I loved it. You will occasionally see literary fiction authors dip their toes into speculative fiction. However, this is the first time I've seen a literary fiction author try their hand at alternate history. Philip Roth ruffled some feathers when he made some comments that seemed to imply that he believed that he had invented the concept of alternate history. I haven't seen exactly where that went down, so I won't really comment on that.

I will say that Roth does an excellent job of combining his signature style with the alternate history setting. I took a look at some of Roth's other books in order to compare the writing style, and The Plot Against America defiantly fits the mold. There are segments of the book that almost feel weirdly nostalgic at times. Roth describes daily life in 1940s New Jersey in such loving detail, it can be easy to forget that you're reading an alternate history novel. And yes, this is a Philip Roth book, so it is pretty much required to take place in New Jersey.

One aspect I liked is that Jewish Americans are not a united front against Lindbergh. Sure, there are plenty, like the Roth family, who are weary of his policies, and actively push back against him. However, there are also Jews who are supportive of Lindbergh, or at least, believe he isn't that bad and can be reasoned with. Minorities are not a monolith, so I felt this added more realism. 

I guess this book goes to show that you can still do interesting things with World War II alternate history than just the typical Nazi Victory scenarios. 

Have you read The Plot Against America?  If so, what did you think?

Link to the full review on my blog: https://drakoniandgriffalco.blogspot.com/2021/12/book-review-plot-against-america-by.html?m=1

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ANTHONY BOYLE as ALVIN LEVIN in THE PLOT AGAINST AMERICA (2020) part two

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An Irish man in Paris

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I'm just sayin I don't see anyone else out here serving this hard...

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Winona Ryder