像高尔德一样好 (1979)

像高尔德一样好（Good as Gold）是美国著名作家约瑟夫·海勒的第三部长篇小说。

历史

1979年出版。该小说通过一位美国犹太裔大学教授畸形的精神世界的展示，深刻地提示了美国官僚政治的腐败，是用黑色幽默风格写成的二战后美国最优秀的政治讽刺小说之一。小说的主人公高尔德既是犹太政治家，前国务卿基辛格的崇拜者，却又表示看不起基辛格，厌恶基辛格，可是在心中则日日夜夜想着自己也成为基辛格。小说还涉及到高尔德本人以及周围人的堕落的私生活和空虚的精神世界，是上层阶级的绝妙写照。

Good as Gold is the third novel written by Joseph Heller. Portions of it were printed in The New York Times in 1976, and in Playboy in April 1979. The book was published in late 1979. The dust jacket was illustrated by Paul Bacon.

Plot

Dr. Bruce Gold is a Jewish, middle-aged, university English professor, unhappily married, hated by his father and brother and ignored by his children. He is the author of one book, four essay collections, "derivative" short stories, and "atrocious" poems. Because he has favorably reviewed a book by the US president, he is offered the chance for success in the form of the job as the first-ever Jewish Secretary of State. To get the job, he is willing to divorce his wife and marry the daughter of an anti-Semitic elder statesman.

Literary significance and criticism

The novel was well regarded by both fans of Heller and literary critics, being viewed as a return to the gag and verbal play that Heller established in Catch-22 and abandoned in favor of the scathing sarcasm and the darker story in Something Happened. Good as Gold functions as a satire on the U.S. government, in a manner similar to the satirization of the army in Catch-22 and the corporation in Something Happened.

Gore Vidal listed Good as Gold as one of his five favorite post-World War II novels, describing it as Heller "at his deadly best, illuminating a hustler on the make in politics".

The New York Times reviewer John Leonard called Good as Gold a "savage" novel, "a nightmare of abuse and opportunism, of surreal graffiti...a nursery rhyme laced with acid."