January 4, 1993
This massive novel shifts from promising delight to annoying didacticism as it tells the epic story of Ray Green, a fictional 1930s radio actor who portrayed The Green Ray, stouthearted protector of truth, justice and all that is best in the American spirit. Ne Reuven Agranovsky (a son of Russian Jewish immigrants), Green continues an obsession with his superhero persona after the show goes off the air in the 1940s. Fink traces Green's quest to make the heart of America larger during the promise of the 1950s, the tumult of the 1960s and 1970s and the greed of the 1980s. Even when all hope seems lost as the novel approaches our time, a suicidal Green decides to go on living. The theme of this first novel by Fink ( Cluck! The True Story of Chickens in the Cinema ) is a compelling one, and its realistic nostalgia has some power. Unfortunately, Fink's style all but debilitates his message. The tale is told in Green's prosaically unsophisticated voice, with key words in nearly every sentence capitalized to indicate their importance. By the end of 600 pages, readers will feel as though they have been beaten about the head with a badly worded inspirational greeting card.