Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Book Review: America Fantastica

(Bought with the remains of a gift card at Barnes and Noble): I needed a thick novel to read on my cruise to Bermuda and this dark satire from Tim O'Brien caught my eye. I have never read him before, but I'd heard a lot about The Things They Carried, his Vietnam novel which was taught at the high school where I worked a few years ago. This sharp-edged comedy has a farcical sheen, sort of in the Myra Breckenridge and Dr. Strangelove mode--cataloging the ills of contemporary America through a skewed lens. Lies and deceit permeate every transaction between the many nefarious characters, none of whom of are strictly sympathetic. I really disliked the protagonist, Boyd Halveston, compulsive liar, former fake-news journalist, and JC Penny manager who impulsively robs a bank and kidnaps motor-mouthed teller Angie Bing for a cross-country spree. Double-crosses multiply as Boyd's crazed felony ripples across the lives of his ex-wife Evelyn, her new husband, her billionaire father and his male lover, Angie's murderous ex, the corrupt couple running the bank Boyd stole from, the crooked cop the bank president's wife is having an affair with, etc., etc. Everyone is a liar. O'Brien indicts the national craze for falsehood started by you know who (POTUS, a minor character here but a distinct influence.) Funny and dark, but too long at 449 pages. I felt that the story ended at about page 300 and the rest was tying up loose ends. I finally wound up actually feeling sorry for Boyd at the end.

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