In Philip Roth's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel "American Pastoral," we delve into the idyllic life of Seymour "Swede" Levov, a successful Jewish businessman in post-World War II Newark. His perfect American Dream shatters when his daughter Merry becomes a radical activist, plunging them into chaos and despair. Swede's quest to understand her transformation unveils the turbulent social upheavals of the era, blending personal tragedy with larger cultural conflicts. As he confronts the stark realities of his once-beloved America, readers are drawn into a gripping exploration of identity, loss, and the pursuit of meaning. Will Swede find a way to reconcile his past with the present, or is the ideal of America forever lost?
By Philip Roth
Published: 1998
""What a world! A world where we live in a society and yet feel so utterly alone in our dreams and desires.""
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER • NATIONAL BESTSELLER • From one of the most acclaimed writers of the twentieth century—a compulsively readable elegy for America’s promises of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss, and "one of Roth's most powerful novels ever" (The New York Times). Here is Philip Roth's masterpiece, featuring Nathan Zuckerman and the story of Swede Levov, a legendary athlete at his Newark high school, who grows up in the booming postwar years to marry a former Miss New Jersey, inherit his father's glove factory, and move into a stone house in the idyllic hamlet of Old Rimrock. And then one day in 1968, Swede's beautiful American luck deserts him. For Swede's adored daughter, Merry, has grown from a loving, quick-witted girl into a sullen, fanatical teenager—a teenager capable of an outlandishly savage act of domestic terrorism. And overnight Swede is wrenched out of the longed-for American pastoral and into the indigenous American berserk. Compulsively readable, propelled by sorrow, rage, and a deep compassion for its characters, American Pastoral gives us Philip Roth at the height of his powers.
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“"What a world! A world where we live in a society and yet feel so utterly alone in our dreams and desires."”
American Pastoral
By Philip Roth
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Philip Roth (1933-2018) was an acclaimed American novelist and short story writer, noted for his distinctive and often controversial exploration of Jewish identity, sexuality, and American society. Some of his most notable works include 'Portnoy's Complaint,' 'American Pastoral,' and 'The Human Stain,' which often blend autobiographical elements with fictional narratives. Roth's writing style is characterized by its sharp wit, psychological depth, and a keen sense of social critique, making him one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century.
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