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[amazon.com]
An out-of-work actor, down on his luck, gets hired to impersonate a leading politician for a few days; but there's always just one more appearance.
It's an enjoyable enough romp, though more political thriller than SF. It is, however, very much of its time. The initially feckless lead character gains a backbone and starts to live up to the role he plays, mostly due to the influence those who surround him - stereotypical 1950s US-SF "capable men". The plot is played pretty straight, with few surprises, and a level of naïveté which is almost childish when viewed with cynical modern eyes (who might take a dim view of the replacement of a major public figure with an imposter who has been groomed and manipulated by shadowy behind-the-scenes operators)
Political issues kept leaping off the page and destroying my suspension of disbelief. While the book is overtly anti-racist, it displays levels of misogyny and sexism which are breathtaking by today's standards. The only female character, a supposedly strong-willed and politically-active woman, bursts into tears at the drop of a hat, and literally swoons on multiple occasions. The torture and mind-control method of the day was (of course) invented by Evil Communists™. The means by which the lead character is "cured" of his anti-Martian prejudice is almost laughable, and reveals a mindset far closer to the 1920s than today.
Maybe I'm being harsh, given that this book was written over 45 years ago, but it still detracts from my enjoyment. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it, but more in an academic sense of studying 1950s SF than at face value.
An out-of-work actor, down on his luck, gets hired to impersonate a leading politician for a few days; but there's always just one more appearance.
It's an enjoyable enough romp, though more political thriller than SF. It is, however, very much of its time. The initially feckless lead character gains a backbone and starts to live up to the role he plays, mostly due to the influence those who surround him - stereotypical 1950s US-SF "capable men". The plot is played pretty straight, with few surprises, and a level of naïveté which is almost childish when viewed with cynical modern eyes (who might take a dim view of the replacement of a major public figure with an imposter who has been groomed and manipulated by shadowy behind-the-scenes operators)
Political issues kept leaping off the page and destroying my suspension of disbelief. While the book is overtly anti-racist, it displays levels of misogyny and sexism which are breathtaking by today's standards. The only female character, a supposedly strong-willed and politically-active woman, bursts into tears at the drop of a hat, and literally swoons on multiple occasions. The torture and mind-control method of the day was (of course) invented by Evil Communists™. The means by which the lead character is "cured" of his anti-Martian prejudice is almost laughable, and reveals a mindset far closer to the 1920s than today.
Maybe I'm being harsh, given that this book was written over 45 years ago, but it still detracts from my enjoyment. Nevertheless, I did enjoy it, but more in an academic sense of studying 1950s SF than at face value.