Mitchell J. Freedman

In this novel, Mitchell Freedman posits an interesting “what-if” scenario that explores what might have happened if Robert Kennedy had survived Sirhan Sirhan’s assassination attempt and then gone on to win the presidency in 1968. From this he launches into a comprehensive account of domestic and international events as they would unfold in response to the policies of President “Bob” Kennedy and his successors, envisioning a range of scenarios that are backed by an impressive amount of research and an imaginative consideration of the consequences.

Yet in spite of the obvious thought and creativity that underlays this book, I found it to be a frustrating read. Part of it is in the policies he envisions Kennedy pursuing, all of which are borne out of the 30-plus years of hindsight that Freedman has the luxury of employing; rarely do Kennedy and his people take a wrong step or embrace a bad idea. This allows Freedman to create a liberal’s fantasy of how the last third of the 20th century could have unfolded, all of which strains credulity as the novel wears on.

Even more annoying, though, is Freedman’s voice as an author. Throughout the book it seems that he can’t decide if he is writing a novel of alternative history, an alternate-history textbook, or a paper speculating how history might have developed differently. Digressions explaining how events developed in “our timeline” or “RFK’s timeline” jar when they interrupt the more clearly novelistic sections of the text. Freedman also cannot even settle on the voices of his characters, as he attempts to replicate the regional accents of Lyndon Johnson, Richard Daley and other figures while ignoring Kennedy’s pronounced Boston Irish accent.

These flaws detract from the overall enjoyment of the book. While Freedman has clearly invested a lot of time and thought into constructing his alternate America, his writing fails to measure up to the task of turning it into an engaging read. Readers who fantasize about how much better America would have been under an RFK presidency will find much to comfort them in its pages, but anyone seeking a good read would do better to turn elsewhere.… (mais)