The Modern American Political NovelPolitics, the workings of government and of people in government, has long been a fertile field for exploration by the novelist. The political arena offers many examples of conflictbetween individuals, groups, or the individual and the group, or within the individual. It is natural then that a sizable body of fiction has grown up using politics as a main source of action. In this study Joseph Blotner attempts "to discover the image of American