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One Hundred Dollar Misunderstanding

by Robert Gover

Summary

"Since 1962 when this novel 1st appeared in the USA, it's been a Rorschach test. An early review of it appeared prominently in the NY Times Book Review, shortly after which the paper refused to run advertisements for the book. Time Magazine gave it a rave while Newsweek was silent, then made up for that silence by using the word genius when they reviewed my 2nd novel. Some prominent black people denounced it, as did rightwing white people with more enthusiasm, but Malcolm X & Ertha Kit, I was told, both loved the novel, as did conservative guru William F. Buckley, Jr., in print. Thru the Sixties & into the Seventies, it was considered radical & racy, yet quite a few universities listed it in various courses, from comparative religions (Yale) to contemporary literature & sociology. During the Eighties, it almost disappeared from the books in print list, but trade paper editions by Grove Press sold quietly from the late Eighties through the Nineties. Nowadays, I teach a novel writing workshop by correspondence course, which means I work with a great variety of wannabe novelists from all economic classes & ethnicities. Some buy this novel & read it, & let me know what they think of it. Generally, they do not laugh till they ache, as readers reported doing back in the Sixties. Nineties readers are more inclined to read it as I originally intended it to be as a quick, satirical story about a tragic fact of American life. Anyone who happens upon this & also reads the novel is welcome to email me his/her gocycles@aol.com."--Robert Gover, 2/1999