Book description (spoilers)

⚠ spoilers ahead ⚠

"American Pastoral" is a novel by Philip Roth, first published in 1997. It is one of Roth's most acclaimed works and won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1998. The novel is part of Roth's later period and is the first in the American trilogy, followed by "I Married a Communist" (1998) and "The Human Stain" (2000).

The story is framed by the narration of Nathan Zuckerman, a character who appears in many of Roth's novels. Zuckerman recounts the life of Seymour "Swede" Levov, a successful Jewish American businessman and former high school athletic star from Newark, New Jersey. Swede's life, which seems perfect on the surface with his role in his father's glove-making business, his marriage to a beauty queen, and his inheritance of a pastoral estate in rural New Jersey, becomes tragic and complex as the societal upheavals of the 1960s affect his family deeply.

The central conflict of the novel involves Swede's daughter, Merry, who becomes radicalized during her teenage years and commits a deadly act of political terrorism during the Vietnam War era. This event shatters Swede's idyllic life and forces him to confront the complex reality of American society, the fragility of his family, and the challenges of understanding and loving a child capable of such violence.

"American Pastoral" explores themes of idealism, identity, the myth of the American Dream, and the chaotic undercurrents of American life during the 20th century. Roth's exploration of these themes is nuanced and profound, making "American Pastoral" not only a story about a man and his family but also a sweeping critique of American society and its discontents.