Customer Reviews

Good As Gold

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A professor and a writer, Bruce Gold feels unappreciated by his family. He is the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants. He still lives in New York and sees his old friends from his childhood in Coney Island. His friends don't seem to respect him, either.

He sees an opportunity to change his life when he meets an old university friend, the Protestant Ralph Newsome, who used to copy all of Gold's course work and who got better grades for it. Newsome now works for the President, who is impressed by Gold's writings, and a high government position is dangled in front of Gold. To ease his way into the government, he duly decides to divorce his old wife and marry a daughter of a rich establishment family. This leads to humiliation at the hands of the father of that family. "You have aspirations and regrets and feelings of inferiority and I don't," Pugh Biddle Conover tells Gold.

The novel takes place in the late 1970s, after Henry Kissinger's stint as Secretary of State with presidents Nixon and Ford. Gold has been collecting materials about Kissinger for years and plans to write a book about him. Gold detests Kissinger, as does everyone else in the book. Kissinger is "a noisy, babbling fellow who was always trying too hard to be entertaining and made war like a Nazi," Conover says. To which, Gold says, "please don't put me in the position of defending the one person on earth I disapprove of most."

Conover mocks Gold as a Jew and for his political aspirations. Both Conover and Gold's father believe that Jews have no place in government and that Kissinger was an aberration.

Gold is well aware of Kissinger's infamies: "his role in the Cambodian war, in which an estimated 500,000 died," and his involvement in overthrowing the Allende government in Chile. Yet, when Gold angrily asserts that Kissinger wasn't even a Jew, is it because Gold really does detest Kissinger or is it because Gold himself wants to be the first Jewish Secretary of State?

This is a very good novel. Some objections, however, have been made about the ending. Without revealing it, I will say that the unexpected event is the sort of thing that jolts people back into reality, as it does to Gold. Another criticism of the book is the stuff on 1970s politics and events. In my opinion, there wasn't too much of that and also I thought that by mentioning these things, it made the novel more realistic.

"Good as Gold" has been unfavorably compared with "Catch-22." They are different books, despite some similarities (for example, the government officials that Gold encounters could easily have stepped out of "Catch-22"). "Catch-22" is a book mainly about young men and appeals to readers in their 20s (perhaps the only time in their lives they will ever read novels); "Good as Gold" deals with the themes of the middle-aged. It is a book about a mid-life crisis and dealing with aging family members.

It is also a book about an outsider desperately wanting to be an insider and how far he will go to get ahead. Gold believes Kissinger is vile and yet...It's a useful novel because it records a phenomena that occurs again and again in American life. Perhaps another novel about ambition will be written some day about a protagonist who gazes with disgust and envy on Colin Powell or Condoleezza Rice, instead of Kissinger. Until then, we have "Good as Gold."

It so apropos today. Bruce Gold has a job at the White House... to make sure the politicians say absolutely nothing of any importance at all, but sound like they are. This book is biting. Hilarious. I have read all his books and oddly enough while I loved Catch-22, and Something Happened, this one sticks with me. It is all about the Orwellian newspeak which I seem to hear everywhere these days. But done with a wicked sense of humour. Laugh out loud funny. The best political satire I have ever read.

Good As Gold is Joseph Heller's third masterpiece. Heller, who sadly left us in 1999, was notorious for taking an eternity between books (13 years between his first two.) And, although this may be true, one thing is certain: when Joe Heller delivers a book, it's a guaranteed masterpiece. Every new Heller release is an event. Good As Gold is as good as the best of them. By turns screamingly funny and heart-piercingly true, this is one of the few books that can make you laugh and cry at the same time. The book works simultaneously on multiple levels. It is a fable of "The Jewish Experience" in America; it is a satiric and highly biting look at the hypocrisy and incompetence at work in everyday government affairs; it is a funny and all-too-sad peek into the lives of the typical American extended family (you could also see the entire thing as an attack on Henry Kissinger - indeed, the only complaint I have about the book is that Heller sometimes follows this tangent too far.) The book, as always with Heller, is very cleverly written. There are no numbered chapters: instead, the book is split into a number of different sections, all with a certain title, which also happen to be titles of works being written by the protagonist (who is, among other things, a writer) - in this way, the book plays out the very story and experience it is purporting to have the main character write himself. An essential read from the greatest American author of the second half of the 20th century.

Bruce Gold, an apathetic professor, is offered the chance for success, fame and fortune in Washinton D.C. But, he must first reshape his life, which may mean cutting out his wacky family. Furthermore, he's faced with the task of writing about the Jewish experience in America, but isn't sure he's lived it and thus has to figure out what it is. So, starts Good as Gold.

The novel starts somewhat slowly, with sometimes tiring descriptions of Gold's get-togethers with his strange family. These are somewhat boring in the early part of the book, but do become more entertaining as the book goes on once they begin to become funny. The memembers of his family are strange, particularly his father, mother-in-law and brother. They bring the most entertainment to the family scenes as Gold faces the frustration of dealing with his father's incorrigibility, his mother-in-law's hostility towards him and his brother's prodding and teasing.

The story certainly has laugh-out-loud moments, particularly the scenes in which Gold is conversing with his friend in Washingtong Ralph, who is very vague in what he does and has a contradictory way of speaking. Moreover, is the strange Andrea Conover, a beautiful women in love who with Gold, yet wants to continue her relationships with other men and doesn't see why that would bother Gold. The sexual escapades of Gold are quite entertaining as he seems to have no trouble attracting beautiful women with strange behavior.

The problem with this book is that although it certainly has many funny moments, it doesn't exactly seem to go anywhere. The reader is exposed to quite a few scenes with Gold's family, but maybe a little bit too much. It would have been nice to see more events unfold in Washington D.C., as scenes dealing with politicians are probably the funniest. The story doesn't have much in the way of plot development, but rather numerous funny moments with family, politicians and women. Moreover, the worst parts of the book were the sections dealing with Henry Kissinger. Gold despises him and sometimes whole pages are boringly dedicated to discussion of Kissinger. It bogs down the book.

I've read Catch-22 by Heller and this certainly isn't as funny, but it does have its own hilarity and ridiculous moments worth of quite a few laughs. It isn't great, but I think it's worth reading if you're really interested. I actually give it a little above 3 stars, but not enough to warrant 4.

In "Good as Gold", Joseph Heller does for Washington what he did to the military in "Catch-22". As a fan of Heller's other works, I had high expectations for this book. While I thought there were a lot of humorous moments, it is a notch slightly below "Catch-22" and "Something Happened".

Welcome to Washington where if something is not working, try the opposite. In Washington, everybody has a job working for the government yet nobody knows what their job is. It makes far less sense than the politics of high school homecoming queen. Enter Bruce Gold. Bruce Gold lives a paradox like the one in Washington. His family lacks respect for him despite his achievements. He is a college professor and author, yet his father respects his high school dropout brother more. When the president likes his writing, Gold seems to be a shoe-in in the president's inner-circle. But first, Gold needs a wife that is not so dumpy. Other extra-marrital affairs might also help his career. Gold has his sights set on the Secretary of State, but he needs more connections and places more stress on his pressured integrity. At this point, Gold wonders if it is all worth the price he is paying. His family still hates him and his soon-to-be second wife is far inferior to the first wife. Is Washington really worth the trouble?

There were a lot of aspects of this book that I liked. I do not feel that the story engaged me in the same way some of Heller's books did. The story just seemed to go to long in some areas and lost me. Heller is a very gifted writer and one of my favorites. I would still recommend this book to others. 4 1/2 stars would be a more appropriate rating.

Joseph Heller is probably the only writer who could always make me laugh out loud. This is a book about a college professor and writer who gets a chance to go to Washington to work for the President. An old friend of his works at the White House and invites him to come to work there, but won't tell him what the job is or when he can start. The friend tells Gold that they want to make a big announcement about the appointment, but want to keep it secret. Everything this guy says is an oxymoron.

Meanwhile, his family is driving him crazy. His father and step mother live in Florida during the winters, but come back to New York for the summer. The whole family is anxious for them to go back to Florida, but they keep stalling. Gold's brother makes idiotic comments, constantly badgering him and trying to get him into a fight. Gold is always being put into a position where he can either argue and look like he's showing off, or ignore the comment and be criticized for ignoring the mistake in his brother's comment.

If you've enjoyed any of Joseph Heller's other books, this is more of the same, so you should get a kick out of this one too.

This book tells the story of a Jewish English professor's trials and tribulations. It spans his family life (including his large extended family), his sex life (he has serious affairs with several people who are not his wife), and his professional life, both as a teacher and a writer. He has a friend in the White House who insists that he must join the government unless he musn't, an FBI man following him around who thinks he's a disgrace to the Jewish faith, and a big brother who delibrately misquotes scientific knowledge to draw him into arguments.

All of these trials are scathingly sattirical, and often very funny. I was especially amused by the White House shenanigans, which sound a little too true to life, especially in light of the Monica Lewinsky scandal. My other favourite parts take place at the university, such as his admission that course descriptions and titles are written to attract students, not to reflect the course's content (e.g., the course "Montheism and Monarchy from the Middle Ages to the Modern" was actually a course on Shakespeare's tragedies and histories, "except Julius Caesar because the Romans weren't monotheistic, and Othello, because there's no monarch"). Other parts have not aged quite as well, but are still amusing.

There are a few problems with the book however. At times, Heller gets carried away to the point of being vitriolic. While this is amusing in small doses, there are times in the book where several pages (say 4 or 5) are devoted to trashing Henry Kissinger, or denigrating Jews. It goes on so long that you get the impression that it's now Heller saying these things, and not the character, which moves the book out of sattire and into political science.

All in all, however, if you can stand these overlong diatribes, it is an enjoyable and funny book. Maybe not quite as funny as Catch 22, but close.

While it is undisputed that Heller is our greatest writer, there are some who would rate Catch-22 as his greatest work. Those people better take a second look at this book. The Gold family is unparalleled in our literature. Sid Gold is the perfect parody of Melville's Ishmael. Social commentary in the guise of comedy. While others have tried, only the true master Heller does it justice.

I read this book 10 years ago, and it still remains vivid in my mind. I can't open a damn fortune cookie without laughing like a fool because of Heller. Do yourself a favor and read it now.

To be inside Gold's mind as he deals with his family, job and friends is very amusing and entertaining. I enjoyed every moment I spent reading this book and actually laughed outloud several times. Great for angry young men of every age.