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Title: An exercise in pessimism
Review: The Day of the Locust takes place in Hollywood in 1939, at the end of the depression and the brink of World War II. The book is a character study of the interactions of various hanger-ons at the edges of the motion picture industry. The book is written in a tone of absolute dispair, and it tries to point out how pointless dreams and wishes are. There is no joy to be found in sunshine, oranges, the ocean, life... My optimistic soul wanted to rage against the author and the characters. I guess I can understand how a Jewish man would feel a sense of pessimism in 1939, but I can't recommend the book as anything but an example of the wrong way to see the world.
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