American Pastoral
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize Here is Philip Roth's masterpiece--an elegy for the American century's promises of prosperity, civic order, and domestic bliss. Roth's protagonist is Swede Levov, a legendary athlete at his Newark high school, who grows up in the booming postwar years to marry a former Miss New Jersey, inherit his father's glove factory, and move into a stone house in the idyllic hamlet of Old Rimrock. And then one day in , Swede's beautiful American luck deserts him. For Swede's adored daughter, Merry, has grown from a loving, quick-witted girl into a sullen, fanatical teenager--a teenager capable of an outlandishly savage act of political terrorism. And overnight Swede is wrenched out of the longed-for American pastoral and into the indigenous American berserk. Compulsively readable, propelled by sorrow, rage, and a deep compassion for its characters, American Pastoral gives us Philip Roth at the height of his powers.
The Best Philip Roth Books
Philip Roth’s books twice received the National Book Award, the first time when he was just twenty-seven, and the National Book Critics Circle award, and three times the PEN/Faulkner Award. He received a Pulitzer Prize and is credited with widening the American literary pantheon to include Jews. My first question is for the uninitiated: why is his work so renowned?
The one word answer is controversial. Even though he did not set out to become a controversial novelist, that is largely the way people have reacted to his whole career. The controversy begins with his first book, which is Goodbye, Columbus. It was a set of short stories, two or three of which raised eyebrows. There was a very strong reaction to “Defender of the Faith,” a short story about a set of Jewish soldiers and certain favors that one thought the other could provide. Then there was the controversy surrounding Goodbye, Columbus—a novella about a young relationship which is part of that collection—because it satirized the materialism of middle-class Jewish families. That was followed by the internationally controversial novel Portnoy’s Complaint, which was even banned in Aust
Understanding Philip Roth PDF
Summary
A panoramic and accessible guide to one of the most celebrated—and controversial—authors of the twentieth century
Philip Roth was one of the most prominent, controversial, and prolific American writers of his generation. By the time of his death in , he had won the Pulitzer Prize, two National Book Awards, and three PEN/Faulkner Awards. In Understanding Philip Roth, Matthew A. Shipe provides a brief biographical sketch followed by an illuminating and accessible reading of Roth's novels, illustrating how the writer constructed one of the richest bodies of work in American letters, capturing the absurdities, contradictions, and turmoil that shaped the United States in the six decades following the Second World War.
Questions of Jewish American identity, the irrationality of male sexual desire, the nature of the American experiment—these are a few of the central concerns that run throughout Roth's oeuvre, and across which his early and late novels speak to one another. Moreover, Shipe considers how Roth's fiction engaged with its historical moment, providing a broader context for understanding how his novels address the changes t
American Literature: The Contemporary Period: Home
Understanding Contemporary American Literary Theory
In this revised edition of Understanding Contemporary American Literary Theory, Michael P. Spikes adds Stanley Fish and Susan Bordo to the critics whose careers, key texts, and central assumptions he discusses in introducing readers to developments in American literary theory during the past thirty-five years. Underscoring the largely heterogeneous mix of strategies and suppositions that these critics, along with Paul de Man, Henry Louis Gates Jr., Edward W. Said, and Stephen Greenblatt, represent, Spikes offers concise analyses of their principal claims and illustrates how their works reflect a range of critical perspectives, from deconstruction, African American studies, and reader-response theory to political criticism, the new historicism, and feminism.
Biographies you may also like
Rae sremmurd brothers hair One of his most prominent styles copied by many of his fans is his dreadlocks hairstyle, which are low maintenance and clean. dreads like his also let the hair breathe especially in the hot .
Margaret sullivan actress biography A magnetic and versatile actress who was successful on both stage and screen, Margaret Sullavan is remembered primarily for her wrenching performance as Robert Taylor's tubercular .
Sofia shafquat biography Visit Author Central to update your books, profile picture and biography. Follow Sofia Shafquat and explore their bibliography from Amazon's Sofia Shafquat Author Page.
Tycho brahe biography astronomer salary Tycho Brahe was a Danish astronomer who is best known for the astronomical observations which led Kepler to his theories of the Solar system. Tycho Brahe was given the Missing: salary.
Temptations biography [vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Formed in , The Temptations were an American vocal group widely recognized for their blended harmonies and detailed .
Spartiti musicali di gianni morandi biography Testo e Accordi della canzone La Befana Trullallà di Gianni Morandi. Tutti gli Accordi sono % corretti, garantiti dai Maestri musicisti di Accordi e g: biography.