Son of the Great American Novel
James Fritzhand
With a new afterword by the author
April 23, 2024
ISBN 9798218377878 / Hardcover / 264 pages / $33.99
ISBN 9798218377830 / Paperback / 280 pages / $19.99

First published in 1971, James Fritzhand's outrageous debut novel is a riotous satire of literary ambition, overnight celebrity, and the fever dream of American fame.

"Overnight, the Arden K. Hoffstetter sensation is born when his 3,000-page novel Flush floods the bestseller racks of the land. Longer than Gone with the Wind, wetter than Moby Dick, dirtier than Lolita—the titanic epic Flush springs from his childhood fascination with the destiny of toilet water.

"Oversexed beauties kiss the sleep from his eyes, movie moguls make outrageous bids for the rights, Greenwich Village orgies entwine him, and thunderous subways take him to the outskirts of reality—Brooklyn.

"With acid-etched parody and dazzling acrobatic wit, Son of the Great American Novel is a blockbuster trip through instant fame, the deli society of the literary elite, and the turbulent soul of a dewy-eyed youth on the threshold of carnal knowledge."

— From the back cover of the 1978 Avon Books paperback edition

"I tremble to call it a trend, but there does seem to be more humor about than in recent seasons. And of this new wavelet, Son of the Great American Novel is a particularly joyful ripple. . . . Mr. Fritzhand has some recognizable comic talents."
— The New York Times, March 7, 1971

"A wickedly entertaining first novel."
— Publishers Weekly, January 25, 1971

"A funny, funny book with some mighty perceptive social commentary underlying the humor."
— The Memphis Press-Scimitar, February 5, 1971

"Fritzhand uses words well. They pound, they gush, they tumble down the pages like a mighty waterfall."
— The Courier-Journal, March 7, 1971