Rabbit Redux is the second in a series of novels about the adventures of Harry Angstrom. All four novels are concerned with the deterioration of the American dream, but Rabbit Redux offers the strongest indictment of a contemporary America in crisis. The novel takes place during the late 1960s when pride in the success of Apollo 11 is set against the anguish of Vietnam.

The location is a small city in Pennsylvania where the flaws of an industrial society are evident, and the chances for life are diminishing. The chief character works at a Linotype machine for a local newspaper, but the day arrives when his skill is no longer needed, and his job disappears.

The disintegration of American culture is further described as violence comes to the suburban life of Harry Angstrom. Rabbit Redux includes a black militant who cannot forget the chaos of Vietnam, and...