false 11650 19 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. 598119 1997 American Pastoral total:6104|5:1965|4:2220|3:1264|2:474|1:181| 6104 23626 9186 751 2 5 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2001 Sun Jun 24 12:52:55 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 17 11:24:32 -0700 2007
I basically don't like anything by Philip Roth.

What prompted the argument...I mean heated discussion...was one of my primary reasons for disliking the book. I will sum that up now and then give the ...more...]]> 3 6 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Mar 09 21:22:51 -0700 2008 Tue Sep 09 22:44:26 -0700 2008
This book is a rock that shatters preconceptions of self, family, morality, dreams, life, and nation - many simultaneously - and some individually.

What I felt this book had to say:

(1) No matter what a parent does, a child will have more say in w...more...]]> 5 6 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Jul 12 13:15:30 -0700 2007 Mon Oct 08 10:00:04 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 4 false false Fri Jun 15 09:45:20 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 10 20:18:37 -0700 2007
The book is unqu...more...]]> 1 6 false true Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 25 07:24:29 -0800 2007 Sun Jan 20 07:10:43 -0800 2008
"However, while he had been at the table formulating no solution, she had been nowhere near the underpass but--he all at once envisioned it--already back in the countryside, here in the lovely Morris County countryside that had...more...]]> 2 3 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Tue Jul 31 00:27:28 -0700 2007 Wed Apr 23 19:27:54 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 2 false true Tue May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sat Jun 14 18:29:38 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 23 07:41:01 -0700 2008
I found this book in a cab in 2007. It was in this little pink bag, like it was specifically left for someone to find. It had a card in it that said something about it being the person's (who wrote the card) favorite book of som...more...]]> 3 2 true false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 11 11:59:36 -0700 2007 Tue Jul 24 22:31:27 -0700 2007 more...]]> 1 2 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Jan 26 14:52:54 -0800 2008 Sat Jan 26 14:57:30 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Dec 10 16:38:26 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 10 17:48:35 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 1 false false Sat Dec 06 00:15:28 -0800 2008 Sat Dec 06 00:15:32 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 2 false false Thu Feb 26 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 10 12:16:43 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 26 09:45:06 -0800 2009
American Pastoral defies logic with it's terrible, terrible writing. This w...more...]]> 5 1 false false Thu Oct 09 04:46:24 -0700 2008 Thu Oct 09 05:27:02 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 04 22:19:14 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 04 22:23:56 -0700 2008 American Pastoral, Swede Levov expends his life trying to determine the cause of the disease that claimed his daug...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Jun 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun May 11 09:44:23 -0700 2008 Mon Jun 16 08:22:27 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat Feb 23 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 16 15:42:25 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 23 14:53:58 -0800 2008 American Pasto...more...]]> 4 2 false false Fri Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Tue Jun 19 13:40:46 -0700 2007 Tue Jun 19 14:03:03 -0700 2007 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Oct 27 15:12:52 -0700 2008 Sun Mar 02 13:04:14 -0800 2008 Mon Oct 27 15:12:52 -0700 2008 more...]]> 1 1 false false Tue Mar 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 11 15:02:54 -0700 2008 Tue Mar 10 19:03:08 -0700 2009
I wish that I had the hours that it took me to read this book back...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Mar 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 20:09:59 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 20:19:27 -0700 2009
What follows is an acc...more...]]>