MELVILLE GOODWIN, USA

by John P. Marquand ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1951

General Goodwin was almost too good to be true. This was what they all felt, as the record was unfolded in an elaborate interview, complete with military staff. He had all the externals of the storybook West Point product, with an overlay of War College, Pentagon, troop command, two World Wars, and a fairly complete array of authentic ribbons. Could he really be a Horatio Alger character,- from small town druggist's son to two star general ? It seems he could, and one stiffens a bit, prepared for boredom, only to find Mel Goodwin wins the war against your heart. When Dotty Peale prepares her campaign, zealous for her reputation of getting what she wanted- even if it might be a General of unblemished reputation, with a wife who had managed to do her bit in shaping that career, you can scarcely bear to see her sophistication defeating his genuine simplicity, directness and naivete. Sid Skelton, commentator, is an unwilling entrepreneur. He introduced them back in Paris, during World War II. He was helpless when Dotty determined to reenter the picture. He almost lost the General's friendship, when he intervened. He learned a good deal about handling his own shaky career from the General's advice. But in the final analysis, it was the General's wife, who accepted the fact that only reassignment to active duty- the Orient- would put the General back on the beam... As convincing a piece of characterization as John Marquand has given us, and the very resistance he imposes at the Art makes his final achievement all the more arresting. And in the process, he has en the civilian behind the scenes and made him see what makes the Army tick. Good ricana- in the portrait of Melville Goodwin USA.

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1951

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1951

Categories: FICTION