For many new citizens struggling with English, the act of casting a vote was their own form of civic commitment.

CNN: First-time voters look to Obama to restore American dream

And hits a snag, in the form of Alexei, a crime boss straight out of central casting (black shirt, white tie, dark glasses and driving an outsize jeep with tinted windows).

ECONOMIST: A krisha over your head

Because he was writing novels when the form was so new, an argument can be made that Defoe's casting of fiction as fact was simply a daring experiment within an emerging genre.

WSJ: Fiction as Authentic as Fact | Robinson Crusoe | Daniel Defoe | Masterpiece by Danny Heitman