American Pastoral Summary and Reviews

American Pastoral
by Philip Roth

American Pastoral
List Price: $15.00
Our Price: $6.97
You Save: $8.03 (54%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.07 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Philip Roth
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 1998-02-03
ISBN: 0375701427
Number of pages: 432
Publisher: Vintage

Book Reviews of American Pastoral

Book Review: "That's how we know we're alive: we're wrong."
Summary: 5 Stars

"What on earth is less reprehensible than the life of the Levovs?" That is the question that Nathan Zuckerman asks in Philip Roth's American Pastoral. This is one of his best novels (I've always preferred the elder Roth to the younger Roth). It tells the story of "Swede" Levov ("rhymes with `love'"), the classic all-American boy: athletic, stunningly handsome, smart, patriotic, moral, diligent, eager-to-please. Levov was one a childhood hero of Zuckerman. One day, in his seventies, the Swede asks to meet with Zuckerman about writing the story of his father's life. Over dinner, Levov strikes Zuckerman as hopelessly banal. "I was wrong," Zuckerman says. "Never more mistaken about anyone in my life."

Like The Human Stain, this novel is somewhat metafictional; Zuckerman has a passing acquaintance with a remarkable man and decides to write a novel about him. He is upfront with the reader that he is making the particulars of this story up - guessing about what he can never know. But that is neither here nor there. What the novel is ultimately about is the arbitrariness of life - the Swede does everything right but is hit by a catastrophe so random that no one could have predicted it. Whether or not that is the fault of "America" is up to the judgment of the reader.

Literary Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Literary Books
Island (Perennial Classics) ImageIsland (Perennial Classics)
by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops: $14.99
Angels ImageAngels
by Marian Keyes
William Morrow; Published: 2002-05-28; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $3.20
Price in other shops: $24.95
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn ImageA Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.86
Price in other shops: $23.99
The Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation ImageThe Devil and Miss Prym: A Novel of Temptation
by Paulo Coelho
Harper; Published: 2006-07-03; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.50
Price in other shops: $24.95
Boonville: A Novel ImageBoonville: A Novel
by Robert Mailer Anderson
Harper Perennial; Published: 2003-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.01
Price in other shops: $12.99
Caramelo ImageCaramelo
by Sandra Cisneros
HarperAudio; Published: 2002-10-01; Audio Cassette; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $39.95
Headhunter ImageHeadhunter
by Timothy Findley
PERENNIAL PUBLICATIONS; Paperback; Book
The Crimson Petal And The White ImageThe Crimson Petal And The White
by Michel Faber
Harcourt, Inc./Harvest; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.50
Great Expectations ImageGreat Expectations
by Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops: $12.10
This Side of Paradise ImageThis Side of Paradise
by Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops: $6.95
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Refresh, Refresh: Stories ImageRefresh, Refresh: Stories
by Benjamin Percy
Graywolf Press; Published: 2007-10-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.87
Price in other shops: $15.00
Burning Down the House: Essays on Fiction ImageBurning Down the House: Essays on Fiction
by Charles Baxter
Graywolf Press; Published: 2008-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.40
Price in other shops: $15.00
Underworld: A Novel ImageUnderworld: A Novel
by Don DeLillo
Scribner; Published: 2003; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.27
Price in other shops: $17.95
How Fiction Works ImageHow Fiction Works
by James Wood
Picador; Published: 2009-07-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.94
Price in other shops: $14.00
Disgrace: A Novel ImageDisgrace: A Novel
by J. M. Coetzee
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2008-08-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.39
Price in other shops: $15.00
I Married a Communist ImageI Married a Communist
by Philip Roth
Vintage; Published: 1999-11-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops: $15.00
Goodbye, Columbus : And Five Short Stories (Vintage International) ImageGoodbye, Columbus : And Five Short Stories (Vintage International)
by Philip Roth
Vintage; Published: 1993-01-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.75
Price in other shops: $15.00
Portnoy's Complaint ImagePortnoy's Complaint
by Philip Roth
Vintage; Published: 1994-09-20; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.40
Price in other shops: $15.00
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao ImageThe Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
by Junot Diaz
Riverhead Trade; Published: 2008-09-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $16.00
The Human Stain: A Novel American Trilogy (3) ImageThe Human Stain: A Novel American Trilogy (3)
by Philip Roth
Vintage; Published: 2001-05-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.47
Price in other shops: $16.00