TIME Magazine content is available exclusively for TIME subscribers.

Current subscribers for full access. Not a TIME subscriber? .

Books: No Myth

THE IRON HOOP (268 pp.)—Cons/crn-tine FitzGibbon—Knopf ($3).

Last year, with The Arabian Bird, Author FitzGibbon showed the critics that he could write a pretty good first novel. This time he has attempted the poet's task of turning history into myth, without the poet's vision. Though the result is bad myth, it is not a complete failure as a novel.

The Iron Hoop presents itself as the story of any occupation after any war. The conquered are represented by "The Hero," an aging visionary; Bud, a sex-happy racketeer; Paul, a boy trying to do the man's work of revolution, and his sister Anna, the...

Time.com on Digg

POWERED BY digg

Quotes of the Day »

DAVID CAMERON, British Prime Minister, on England's soccer manager, Fabio Capello, who resigned after challenging the FA's decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy; Terry denies a charge of racially abusing QPR's Anton Ferdinand
For use in rail of Articles page or Section Fronts pages. Duplicate and change name as necesssary to distinguish.