Last year, novelist John Irving dutifully flaunted his uninformed condescension in his pre-election Sarah Palin comments.
But his better angels are on display in his great novel: The Fourth Hand. With nicely crafted sentences and clever insights, Irving contrasts the capacity to make interpersonal commitments in Green Bay WI with fancy Media Elite circles in Manhattan.
Interestingly for Sarah fans, the similarities between the salt of the earth, cold weather toughies in Green Bay and the Palins are actually strikingly obvious, even if totally unintentional. So striking, in fact, I actually wonder if Irving have felt somewhat obligated to clarify his contempt for the Palins--despite the similarities that haunt his brilliant 2003 novel.
