Pastoral americana

Seymour Levov, the Swede, a legendary high school athlete, affectionate parent, tireless worker, and wealthy heir to his father's factory, comes of age in prosperous and triumphant postwar America. He just wants to do things right and lead a quiet life. But the story is stronger than he is and draws him hopelessly when his daughter Merry participates in a violent act against the Vietnam War. The devastating consequences will drive the Swede away from any hope of happiness or spiritual coherence. In this 1998 Pulitzer Prize winning novel, Philip Roth plunges us into the most explosive decade of the 20th century: the 1960s. And he does it in top form, with the measured prose and intellectual subtlety that characterize him in portraying the false promises of the American dream.