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Howard Fast
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Citizen Tom Paine Paperback – May 5, 1994

by Howard Fast (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 165 ratings
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Among Howard Fast's historical fiction, Citizen Tom Paine-one of America's all-time best-sellers-occupies a special place, for it restored to a generation of readers the vision of Paine's revolutionary passion as the authentic roots of our national beginnings. Fast gives us "a vivid picture of Paine's mode of writing, idiosyncrasies, and character-generous, nobly unselfish, moody, often dirty, frequently drunken, a revolutionist by avocation"-Library Journal
Previous page
  1. Print length
    348 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Grove Press
  4. Publication date
    May 5, 1994
  5. Dimensions
    5.45 x 0.96 x 8.27 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    080213064X
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0802130648
  8. Lexile measure
    1060L
  9. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

'Among Howard Fast's historical fiction, Citizen Tom Paine - one of America's all-time best-sellers - occupies a special place, for it restored to a generation of readers the vision of Paine's revolutionary passion as the authentic roots of our national beginnings. Fast gives us 'a vivid picture of Paine's mode of writing, idiosyncrasies, and character - generous, nobly unselfish, moody, often dirty, frequently drunken, a revolutionist by avocation' (Library Journal)

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Grove Press; Reprint edition (May 5, 1994)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 348 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 080213064X
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0802130648
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 1060L
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 11 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.45 x 0.96 x 8.27 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 165 ratings

About the author

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Howard Fast

Howard Fast

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Howard Fast (1914-2003) was one of the most prolific American writers of the twentieth century. He was a bestselling author of more than eighty works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and screenplays. The son of immigrants, Fast grew up in New York City and published his first novel upon finishing high school in 1933. In 1950, his refusal to provide the United States Congress with a list of possible Communist associates earned him a three-month prison sentence. During his incarceration, Fast wrote one of his best-known novels, Spartacus (1951). Throughout his long career, Fast matched his commitment to championing social justice in his writing with a deft, lively storytelling style.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
165 global ratings
Don't confuse Play and Novel
4 Stars
Don't confuse Play and Novel
Don't confuse "Citizen Tom Paine: A Play in Two Acts" and another book by same author, "Citizen Tom Paine." The novel, first published 1943, reprinted 1983, was used to derive his 1986 play. Regrettably, Amazon once listed them here as the same book, and some sellers are still listing the novel here under the ISBN for the play. So BEWARE. The image shown is the cover of the play with with Richard Thomas as Paine in the 1985 Williamstown season. The play is about 100 pages with an afterword by Howard Fast. Tom Paine is portrayed as a, or the, major player in helping bring Americans to the cause of liberty against England, and as a powerful but misunderstood player on the world stage.
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Top reviews from the United States

Walter Stanley
5.0 out of 5 stars Tom Paine Deserves More Attention than We Give Him
Reviewed in the United States on April 10, 2019
Verified Purchase
I read a great deal, and this is one of the most impressive books I've read in several years. Like the vast majority of Americans, I remember Tom Paine’s name because our American history course mentioned that he wrote COMMON SENSE, and our American literature course had the famous quotation, “These are the times that try men’s souls.” But I missed, as well as probably most other students, just how influential and even critically important, Paine’s writing was to the success of the American Revolution. Assuming that Fast’s account is factual, COMMON SENSE sold many copies that the printers could hardly keep up with the demand. Exhausted, disheartened soldiers read it and were revivified. General Howe of His Majesty’s Army read it and condemned Paine to hanging. Later, when the war hand ended and Paine went to England to try to stir up revolutionary fervor there, he was condemned to death and had to flee England for France for having written THE RIGHTS OF MAN. When he wrote THE AGE OF REASON, as a response to atheists from a man of faith, he earned the hatred of Christians by proclaiming that no man is obliged to believe the religious revelation of another man, and therefore not believe that the Bible is the Word of God. “In London, Liverpool, Nottingham and Sheffield, piles of Paine’s books were burned while crowds danced around fire, screaming:
‘Paine, Paine, damned be his name,
Damned be his fame an lasting his shame,
God damn Tom Paine! God Damn Tom Paine!’
Such irrational hatred for someone who devoted his life to human freedom and dignity, and intelligent common sense applied to Scripture.
I was surprised to discover that Napoleon Bonaparte read Paine, as if Napoleon were devoted to democracy. Although, a book by Upton Sinclair, WORLD’S END, I discovered that Napoleon took land from wealthy landowners in France, and countries that he conquered, and divided it up among the peasants.
Reading Fast’s book encourage me to read Paine’s work, and at this date, some of his ideas regarding the rights of man are so commonly accepted it’s hard to believe they were once demonized as radical. Paine was an American who deserves far greater attention than we give him.
17 people found this helpful
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V. Turner
4.0 out of 5 stars Tom Paine and Common Sense
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2014
Verified Purchase
This book was very interesting to me. It informed me of many things concerning Thomas Paine and the Revolutionary War. I had no idea the Common Sense was so widely published and passed around. As Paine was not always a happy man, it was not always easy to read. That he went to Europe and involved himself in the French Revolution was new information for me. It was interesting but also depressing. In spite of all he did to help with the American Revolution, he did not have a happy life. I found it a little dark and hard to read, but was glad to have the information it provided. Being a novel, I accepted that most of the historical story was accurate. I hope this was true.
5 people found this helpful
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Stamper
5.0 out of 5 stars The story of a great man!
Reviewed in the United States on December 1, 2014
Verified Purchase
This is a fascinating story of a man who was so important to the American Revolution yet is not well known. The book starts with Tom's life in England and follows him to America. Once there he becomes vital to the war. His writings stir the very soul of men who leave their homes to fight. The life of Paine following the war is quite tragic. He returns to England then goes to France. Eventually he returns to America. His life goes awry at every turn. It is such a sorry ending for a truly great man. What a wonderful read!
One person found this helpful
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Karl Janssen
3.0 out of 5 stars Less compelling than its subject deserves
Reviewed in the United States on January 2, 2018
Verified Purchase
Howard Fast is probably best known today as the author of the novel Spartacus, on which the classic Stanley Kubrick film was based, but during his seven-decade career the prolific Fast published dozens of historical novels and mysteries. Fast was an unapologetic Communist, and his liberal political activism often found its literary manifestation in freedom-fighter stories, including several books on the American Revolution, of which Citizen Tom Paine, originally published in 1943, is one of the better known and best-selling. In this novel, Fast retells the life story of Revolutionary writer Thomas Paine, author of Common Sense, The Rights of Man, and The Age of Reason.

Citizen Tom Paine might best be classified as a biographical novel rather than a historical novel because Fast doesn’t really enlarge the narrative much beyond Paine’s immediate perspective. Little poetic license is taken, and Fast introduces few if any fictional characters. Rather than a novel based on Paine’s life, the book feels more like simply a biography with feelings added in the form of an imagined interior monologue on behalf of Paine. Despite a sympathy with the author’s political views and a pre-existing fascination with Paine on my part, I found this book surprisingly dull. The entire time I was reading Fast’s novelization of Paine’s life, I couldn’t help thinking that I would have rather been reading a straight-up biography on the subject.

Fast’s depiction of Paine lapses into caricature at times, usually brought on by excessive hero-worship and hyperbolic praise. Fast credits Paine with so much fame and influence at times it seems far-fetched, as if Paine existed in a vacuum, the first person to ever conceive of individual freedom. Overall, Fast does manage to make a multidimensional character out of Paine, but the supporting cast—including Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, etc.—never rise above the level of cardboard cutouts. In his narrative voice, Fast often seems more interested in crafting a clever turn of phrase than he is in telling a story. While perhaps intended to evoke the lofty ideals of the Revolution, these flights into ostentatious prose actually distance the reader from the often gritty reality of the story being told.

On the plus side, you do learn a lot about Paine, from his working-class youth in England to his poor beginnings in America, to his fighting in the Revolutionary War and his later career as an elder statesman. The explosive impact of Paine’s pamphlet Common Sense and it’s tremendous effect on the development of an American spirit—if Fast’s depiction is accurate—is surprising given that Paine is often mentioned as an afterthought in our history books compared to other higher-profile Founding Fathers. Even more enlightening is the telling of Paine’s post-Revolution career in England and France, where he continued to fight selflessly for human rights, often at his own peril. Fast really makes the reader feel for Paine by crafting the historical facts into a tragic arc, but sometimes he does so a bit too manipulatively.

The ebook edition from Open Road Media closes with a brief biography of Fast, including photographs, which I found to be one of the more interesting parts of the book. As I was wrapping up Citizen Tom Paine, I would have considered it unlikely that I would ever read another book by Fast, but learning more about his life has increased my curiosity towards his work. I might possibly pursue another of his Revolutionary novels, but I hope it’s more compelling than this one.
4 people found this helpful
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