Our Gang

Random House, New York, 1971. First edition. Second printing, with number line to 2 (and no statement of FIRST EDITION). Near Fine, with slight fading to cloth spine. Lacks the dust jacket. A clean, tight copy. Philip Roth's fifth novel. A marked departure from his previous book, Portnoy's Complaint, Our Gang is a political satire written in the form of a closet drama. Centered on the character of "Trick E. Dixon", a caricature of then-President Richard Nixon, the book takes its cue from an actual quote from Nixon: "From personal and religious beliefs I consider abortions an unacceptable form of population control." Roth was inspired to write Our Gang by Nixon making this statement on the same week he ordered William Calley's release from prison to house arrest.] As the book is written entirely as dialogue, Roth uses stage directions, such as "impish endearing smile", when Dixon is talking.