Good as Gold (novel)

Good as Gold is a 1979 novel by Joseph Heller, author of Catch-22.

Plot introduction

Bruce Gold, a Jewish, middle-aged university English professor and author of many unread, seminal articles in small journals, residing in Manhattan, is offered the chance for success, fame and fortune in Washington D.C. as the country's first ever Jewish Secretary of State. But he must face the consequences of this, such as divorcing his wife and alienating his family, the thought of which energizes him and makes him cringe at the same time. Furthermore, he's faced with the task of writing about the Jewish experience in America, but isn't sure he's lived it and thus has to figure out what it is, not knowing that he was invariably going to describe his own life.

Literary significance & criticism

The novel is well regarded by fans and critics alike, viewed as a return to the gag and verbal play that Heller established in Catch-22 and abandoned in the name of the scathing sarcasm and the darker story in Something Happened. It's a much brighter story than his previous one with a slightly happier ending for the protagonist, whereas the predecessor is about the loss of optimism and hope. Having disposed in this way of the army in Catch-22 and the corporation in Something Happened, Heller in Good as Gold now took on the American government in similar terms.