2,695,797+ Books Available - 1,923 Members Online
Your source for swapping books online - Read...Swap...Save!
How To Swap Books?
Sign Up
Search 
Kiosk
All Books
Book Browser
Advanced Search
Books Posted Today
Club Wish List
Member Book Reviews
NYT Best Seller List
Login
Community
Member Directory
Discussion Forums
Live Chat (3)
Box-O-Books
Book Journal
Maps
The Eclectic Pen
Fun Stuff
Top 50s
Pulse of PBS
Spread The Word
Photo Gallery
Recipes
Club Tag Cloud
Member Testimonials
Friends of PBS
Help Center
Kiosk
Need Help?
Search - The Human Stain
|
|
|
||||
Book Description:
It is 1998, the year in which America is whipped into a frenzy of prurience by the impeachment of a president, and in a small New England town, an aging classics professor, Coleman Silk, is forced to retire when his colleagues decree that he is a racist. The charge is a lie, but the real truth about Silk would have astonished even his most virulent accuser.
Coleman Silk has a secret, one which has been kept for fifty years from his wife, his four children, his colleagues, and his friends, including the writer Nathan Zuckerman. It is Zuckerman who stumbles upon Silk's secret and sets out to reconstruct the unknown biography of this eminent, upright man, esteemed as an educator for nearly all his life, and to understand how this ingeniously contrived life came unraveled. And to understand also how Silk's astonishing private history is, in the words of The Wall Street Journal, "magnificently" interwoven with "the larger public history of modern America."
Coleman Silk has a secret, one which has been kept for fifty years from his wife, his four children, his colleagues, and his friends, including the writer Nathan Zuckerman. It is Zuckerman who stumbles upon Silk's secret and sets out to reconstruct the unknown biography of this eminent, upright man, esteemed as an educator for nearly all his life, and to understand how this ingeniously contrived life came unraveled. And to understand also how Silk's astonishing private history is, in the words of The Wall Street Journal, "magnificently" interwoven with "the larger public history of modern America."
Similar books to this author and title:
 |  |
Genres:
Other Versions of this Book: Hardcover, Audio Cassette (Unabridged), Audio Cassette (Abridged), Hardcover
Top Member Reviews
Jo Anne C. (
3 member(s) found this review helpful.
It took a good 60 pages into this book before I really got interested in it. The main character isn't the most admirable and there didn't seem to be enough happening to make it interesting. After those first 60 pages of exposition, however, the book lured me in with its twists and turns and surprises. You never know exactly where the story is taking you and what you'll learn. By the end of the book, I wanted to read it again. It accurately captures our world, how we are shaped by it and how we shape it.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
The woman at work who recommended this book to me has never missed yet. This is the story of an aging professor at a small New England college who makes an offhand remark about a couple of students cutting his class that is inadvertently taken as racist. He himself is black but since his youth has covered up his race and because of his light pigmentation has been accepted as a white man, much to the chagrin of his family. An oddball story but it is a very good book. You will not be disappointed.
Trisha B. from SAINT PAUL, MN wrote on 2/15/2007...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Although the story was pretty good, it moved rather slowly. Several plot points were a little unbeleivable. Still, I read the whole thing, which means it was at least pretty good.
Vanessa T. from ARCADIA, FL wrote on 11/10/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Quite possibly the best book I have ever read. The language is incredible and the story poignant. The historical and social contexts the story is weaved in gives the story a 3-dimensional quality only Roth is able to achieve.
Reuben G. from AUSTIN, TX wrote on 10/20/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Amazing plot and character development. Very slow at times.
Tracy S. (
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
I really liked this book -- so much to talk about. It's a great view into perceptions and societal expectations & hypocracy.
Monekia F. wrote on 6/22/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Professor Coleman Silk is such an intriguing character. His story grips the reader from the very start. The reader is pulled into the world of college academia where a black professor who has "passed for white" all his adult life is accused of being a racist towards blacks. A truly unforgettable read!
Richard P. from SILVER SPRING, MD wrote on 3/5/2006...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Fascinating look at the life of disgraced aging classics professor who has lived a life-long lie. Only flaws are a couple of worthless subplots.
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
One of the best books and best-written books I've ever read.
Susan R. from FRAMINGHAM, MA wrote on 9/29/2005...
1 member(s) found this review helpful.
Winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award, story about a married professor and an affair with a cleaning lady.
Rate These Member Reviews
The cover design on this book is different. But this is the correct isbn.
Written by one of the best American authors today, the book won the Pen/Faulkner Award. Character development and magnificent writing always characterize Roth's work.
From back cover: "...test novel (Roth) has written..."
A prestigious professor is forced to retire when his colleagues decree that he is a racist. The charge is lie, but the real truth about Professor Silk would astonish his most virulent accuser. For he has a secret, one which he has kept for 50 years from his wife, his four children, his colleagues and his friends. Winner of the Pen/Faulkner Award . Pulitzer prize-winning author of American Pastoral.
Lynn M. from FOXBURG, PA wrote on 6/5/2006...Pen/Faulkner Award Winner
Sally A L. from STRASBURG, CO wrote on 5/5/2006...Coleman Silk, an aging classics professor, is forced to retire when his colleagues decree that he is a racist. The charge is a lie, but the real truth about Silk would astonish his most virulent accuser.
Diane D. wrote on 12/14/2005...cover picture is different; great read
Friends of PBS
|
Spread the Word
|
Help Center
|
Press & Media
|
Feature List
|
Careers
|
RSS
|
Browser Test
|
Mobile
|
PBSWS-Developers
|
Under the Hood
Book List Import Bookmark | Browser Search Plugins | Upload Book Covers | Edit Book Data | Approve Book Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Patent Pending | © 2004-2008 PaperBackSwap.com | Sister Sites: SwapaCD.com - SwapaDVD.com - SwapaGoat.com
Book List Import Bookmark | Browser Search Plugins | Upload Book Covers | Edit Book Data | Approve Book Authors | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Patent Pending | © 2004-2008 PaperBackSwap.com | Sister Sites: SwapaCD.com - SwapaDVD.com - SwapaGoat.com