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American Pastoral
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American Pastoral
Author: Philip Roth

Book Information
Publisher: Vintage
Book Type: Paperback
Members Wishing: 34
Rating:

ISBN-13: 9780375701429 - ISBN-10: 0375701427
Publication Date: 2/3/1998
Pages: 432


Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Audio Cassette (Unabridged)

Book Description:
As the American century draws to an uneasy close, Philip Roth gives us a novel of unqualified greatness that is an elegy for all our century's promises of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss. Roth's protagonist is 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 political terrorism. And overnight Swede is wrenched out of the longer-for American pastoral and into the indigenous American berserk. Compulsively readable, propelled by sorrow, rage, and a deep compassion for its characters, this is Roth's masterpiece.

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Top Member Book Reviews

Haewon L. (nunah) wrote on 3/8/2006...

5 member(s) found this review helpful.

This is his masterpiece. Roth is the master of exactitude. All the nuances and events are there for a reason. If you've never read Roth, I strongly recommend this one.

Marta J. (booksnob) wrote on 11/26/2006...

4 member(s) found this review helpful.

I'll preface this by saying that this is a challenging novel, but if you allow yourself to get pulled in, you will be blown away by its depth. I sympathized with the protagonist as much as I ever have for a fictional character. My only criticism is the ending, which I don't think did this book justice.

Jeannie C. (yogagirl) wrote on 6/22/2007...

3 member(s) found this review helpful.

I thought it was a bummer. So many
dynsfunctional people, so little time.

Mandella P. (pigri) wrote on 5/13/2007...

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Beautiful book. This is rich and completely deserving of the Pulitzer.


Please Rate these Book Reviews

Sheila M. (Page5) wrote on 10/20/2009...


The first 90 pages kept putting me to sleep (I read before bed). Aging high school athletic stars and old men with prostate problems apparently do not interest me at all. The book did become more interesting later but the narrator (Zuckerman) is unreliable and the entire story of The Swede is Zuckerman's dream.

To me, this story was largely narrative - a commentary of the social turbulence of the 60’s and an analysis of human traits, desires, etc. I was looking for a story (plot) and Roth did start to give me one but then went back to the narrative/commentary. If you are not going to have a plot then you need interesting characters. I found most of the characters and their actions/inactions more annoying than interesting. Roth left many of the threads of the story unanswered. He did convey the bewilderment and confusion of the parents of radical protesters well.

I've read a lot of Pulitzers and this one left me underwhelmed.

Lindsey B. (Lindsb) - PA wrote on 4/17/2007...


This book moved slowly for me, but it was a National Bestseller written by Philip Roth (author of The Human Stain).

Philip Roth's 22nd book takes a life-long view of the American experience in this thoughtful investigation of the century's most divisive and explosive of decades, the '60s. Returning again to the voice of his literary alter ego Nathan Zuckerman, Roth is at the top of his form. His prose is carefully controlled yet always fresh and intellectually subtle as he reconstructs the halcyon days, circa World War II, of Seymour "the Swede" Levov, a high school sports hero and all-around Great Guy who wants nothing more than to live in tranquillity. But as the Swede grows older and America crazier, history sweeps his family inexorably into its grip: His own daughter, Merry, commits an unpardonable act of "protest" against the Vietnam war that ultimately severs the Swede from any hope of happiness, family, or spiritual coherence.

Kimberly C. (kaystarr) wrote on 4/11/2007...


Good read, took me a bit to get into it, but the main character and his daughter are very interesting. good for relationships b/t the generations.

Judy B. wrote on 4/11/2007...


Wonderful.

Millie W. wrote on 8/27/2006...


This book is considered Roth's masterpiece, for which he earned the Pulitzer Prize.

Rick S. (evdebs) wrote on 7/1/2006...


Not Roth's best

Maggie S. wrote on 6/19/2006...


Pulitzer Prize winner. Emotional, intelligent and heart wrenching!


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