The Public Burning

The Public Burning, Robert Coover's third novel, was published in 1977. It is an account of the events leading to the execution of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. An uncharacteristically human caricature of Richard Nixon serves as protagonist and narrator for the primary continuity.

The novel satirizes the Cold War politics of Joseph McCarthy by portraying "The Phantom" as the embodiment of global Communism and everything that threatens the American way of life—a vague, terrifying, and omnipresent enemy. The ugly side of the American psyche this draws out is characterized by an incarnation of Uncle Sam who unleashes a torrent of interminable verbosity in a folksy, foul-mouthed style whenever he appears. The New York Times and Time Magazine figure centrally as symbols of institutional failure not only to question whether the truth was a victim in this hyperpoliticized trial but also whether the official narrative was in fact a bunch of political lies.

Coover first experienced difficulty finding a publisher, and then when he found a publisher, getting it to actually publish the novel, due to legal concerns over the unflattering depiction of Richard Nixon, Pat Nixon, Roy Cohn, and others.^[1] Then having published the novel, once it became a bestseller, Viking immediately abandoned all support, and withdrew copies without explanation. Coover's editor, Richard Seaver, speculated to Coover that Viking management believed success would attract lawsuits.^[2]^[3]

Despite these difficulties, this novel has received a large amount of critical attention. It has been called "perhaps the most complete replenishment of the language since Whitman and (in a different way) Mark Twain ... no writer since Melville has dived so deeply and fearlessly into this collective American dream as Coover has in this novel".^[4]

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Editions

ISBN 0-670-58200-X (hardcover, 1977)
ISBN 0-8021-3527-7 (paperback, 1998)

References

^ At the time, Cohn had sued NBC over Tail Gunner Joe, and Nixon, in his interviews with David Frost, indicated that he did not sue Woodward and Bernstein because their accusations were part of politics, and they had left Pat out.
^ Coover, Robert (Fall 2000). "The Public Burning Log 1966–77". Critique. 42 (1): 84–114. doi:10.1080/00111610009603129. S2CID 144083142.
^ A very condensed summary is provided by the Introduction in the Grove Press edition of the novel.
^ Evenson, Brian (2006). Understanding Robert Coover, p. 110–111. University of South Carolina Press, Columbia. ISBN 978-1-57003-482-4.

Richard Nixon

37th President of the United States (1969–1974)
36th Vice President of the United States (1953–1961)
U.S. Senator from California (1950–1953)
U.S. Representative for CA–12 (1947–1950)

Pre-presidency

Presidency
(timeline)

Foreign policy	Nixon Doctrine Vietnam War Cambodian bombing Paris Peace Accords "Peace with Honor" Vietnamization Cold War period Linkage policy Tar Baby Option 1972 visit to China Shanghai Communiqué 1973 Chilean coup d'état Détente 1972 Moscow Summit Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty SALT I Treaty Prevention of Nuclear War Agreement Threshold Test Ban Treaty Operation CHAOS Space exploration
Economic policy	Bank Secrecy Act Fair Credit Reporting Act National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Urban Mass Transportation Act of 1970 Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1973 Nixon shock Economic Stabilization Act of 1970 Smithsonian Agreement Occupational Safety and Health Act National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Occupational Safety and Health Administration Permissible exposure limit U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Consumer Product Safety Act Lead-Based Paint Poisoning Prevention Act Poison Prevention Packaging Act of 1970 Public Health Cigarette Smoking Act Securities Investor Protection Act Securities Investor Protection Corporation Tax Reform Act of 1969 Alternative minimum tax Revenue Act of 1971 Agricultural Act of 1970 Farm Credit Act of 1971 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act of 1972 Agriculture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 Emergency Petroleum Allocation Act Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act Trans-Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act
Environmental policy	Council on Environmental Quality Environmental Quality Improvement Act National Environmental Policy Act Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Amendments of 1970 Clean Water Act Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act National Ambient Air Quality Standards National Emissions Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants New Source Performance Standards Noise Control Act Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1970 National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Coastal Zone Management Act Coastal Zone Management Program Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act of 1972 Endangered Species Act of 1969 Endangered Species Act of 1973 Oil Pollution Act of 1973 Water Resources Development Act of 1974
Social policy	Family Assistance Plan Revised Philadelphia Plan Minority Business Development Agency Native American policy Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act Education Amendments of 1972 Title IX National Cancer Act of 1971 End Stage Renal Disease Program Health Maintenance Organization Act of 1973 Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act Shafer Commission War on Drugs Drug Enforcement Administration Cannabis policy Federal Contested Elections Act Federal Election Campaign Act Voting Rights Act Amendments of 1970 District of Columbia Home Rule Act
Watergate	Timeline Operation Sandwedge Operation Gemstone Saturday Night Massacre CRP White House Plumbers Watergate Seven Enemies List list of opponents White House tapes United States v. Nixon (1974) Senate Watergate Committee impeachment process "I am not a crook" Resignation speech Pardon