Overall, I felt that The Sportswriter, by Richard Ford, was a beautifully written novel mainly because of the strategic characterization of Frank Bascombe. Bascombe, to me, faced many obstacles in his life, and I feel that he is one of the great heroes in American Literature. He strived to work towards the American Dream. This made me think of Willy Loman, the main character in Death of a Salesman, by Arthur Miller. Willy wanted to achieve the American Dream just like Frank Bascombe.
The one flaw, in my opinion, that Bascombe had was that he didn't want to accept reality and he persistently tried to improve his situation in his head. He could have faced his problems and dealt with them; however, instead he just ignored them and didn't try to actually improve his situation.
I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who is looking for reassurance in his or her life. The one thing that can be learned from The Sportswriter is that there is always hope. Richard Ford wants the world to know that there is always something to be happy about.
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