![]() Simon desperately wants to succeed in his job, but the juxtaposition of Ethel Rosenberg, a devoted wife and mother, with the overwrought sexuality of her fictional counterpart is more than his conscience can handle. While the stakes may not seem particularly high at first, as the plot moves forward, it does indeed thicken. With the help of a well-connected uncle, Simon lands a job with a prestigious publisher, but his first real assignment-to edit a terribly written novel casting Ethel Rosenberg as a nymphomaniac commie-entails an enormous personal conflict. Simon’s quest for success starts off in a deceptively mundane manner. His mother, who knew Ethel, is especially disturbed. ![]() ![]() On the night of the execution of Ethel and Julius Rosenberg (an event of worldwide condemnation), he’s living near Coney Island with his parents, watching the proceedings of the execution on television with horror. From the beginning, Prose places us firmly in the consciousness of an insecure young Jewish man named Simon who has just graduated from Harvard and who, for mysterious reasons, has been rejected by the only graduate school he applied to. ![]() ![]() This is one of the most satisfying novels I’ve read in ages. ![]()
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