Introduction: The Gunshot Concert.

The article discusses American politics in fiction, which according to Irving Howe in his essay "This Age of Conformity" is something that always appear even in non-political forms. Topics discussed include Howe's explanation behind writer's treatment of politics as a special problem, the literary community's effort to demonstrate the relationship between politics and literature and the reason behind political novels in midcentury ended in despair. Also mentioned is how political novel can help man focused on the present.