The public burning
Robert Coover
Reading Time
at 250 WPM8h 54m
The average reader, reading at a speed of 250 WPM, would take 8h 54m to read The public burning.
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18
days at 30 min/day
534
total minutes
The public burning
Published
1978
Publisher
Allen Lane
Pages
534
ISBN-10
0713911239
Description
A controversial best-seller in 1977, The Public Burning has since emerged as one of the most influential novels of our time. The first major work of contemporary fiction ever to use living historical figures as characters, the novel reimagines the three fateful days in 1953 that culminated with the execution of alleged atomic spies Julius and Ethel Rosenberg. Vice-President Richard Nixon - the voraciously ambitious bad boy of the Eisenhower regime - is the dominant narrator in an enormous cast that includes Betty Crocker, Joe McCarthy, the Marx Brothers, Walter Winchell, Uncle Sam, his adversary The Phantom, and Time magazine incarnated as the National Poet Laureate. All of these and thousands more converge in Times Square for the carnivalesque auto-da-fe at which the Rosenbergs are put to death. And not a person present escapes implication in Cold War America's ruthless "public burning."
Subjects
Frequently Asked Questions
How many pages are in The public burning?
This edition of The public burning has approximately 534 pages. Please note, this is an estimate and the exact page count can vary between hardcover, paperback, and e-book versions.
How long does it take to read The public burning?
For most readers, The public burning typically takes between 11h 8m and 7h 25m to complete. This is based on the book's length of approximately 133,500 words and common reading speeds.
Here's a detailed breakdown: • Continuous reading at 250 WPM: approximately 8h 54m of focused reading • Casual reading (30 minutes/day): you could finish in roughly 18 days • Estimated word count: 133,500 words
Your individual reading time will vary based on your personal reading pace, the amount of daily reading time, and your familiarity with the subject matter.
What is the word count of The public burning?
The estimated word count for The public burning is approximately 133,500 words. This figure is calculated using industry-standard methods that consider genre-specific word density patterns, typical formatting and layout characteristics, and standard words-per-page ratios for published books.
This is an approximation — actual word count may vary based on font size, formatting, edition, and the presence of illustrations or charts.
Who is the author of The public burning?
The public burning was written by Robert Coover.
When was The public burning published?
The publication date for this specific edition is 1978. The original work may have been published on a different date.