The Left Shall Rise Again! Chris Bachelder’s U.S.!Randy Shawbyline‚ Jul. 27‚ 2006With tales of dysfunctional families and idiosyncratic characters now dominating American fiction, entire novels take place outside of any particular social tableau. Fiction that depicts people as shaped by the politics of their times, or that discusses social and economic issues are increasingly rare. Phillip Roth’s The Plot Against America was a welcome exception to this trend, and Chris Bachelder’s U.S.! is another. Whereas Roth set his book in the 1930’s and 40’s to build a metaphor for the present, Bachelder brings a prominent writer from those years---Upton Sinclair—back from the dead to make an important point about America’s abandonment of progressive ideals. Bachelder’s account of Sinclair’s faith in the novelist’s capacity to spur Americans to action is one of the many reasons that U.S.! is one of the funniest and insightful novels that I have read in years. |