American Anti-Pastoral: Brookside, New Jersey and the Garden State of Philip Roth

Format: Hardback
Length: 222 pages
Publication date: 24 June 2024
Publisher: Rutgers University Press

Philip Roth's 1997 American Pastoral is a renowned novel set in New Jersey, utilizing the fictional hamlet of Old Rimrock as a microcosm for a nation in crisis during the cultural upheavals of the 1960s-70s. While critics have deemed Old Rimrock mythic, it is based on the real-life town of Brookside, New Jersey. American Anti-Pastoral delves into the events of Roth's novel in relation to the history of Brookside and its region. Initially, Roth's protagonist Seymour "Swede" Levov perceives Old Rimrock as an idyllic paradise within the Garden State. However, its real-world counterpart has a more complex past, originating as a small industrial village and serving as a site for exclusionary zoning politics and a 1960s anti-war protest during its renowned 4th of July parade. Literary historian and Brookside native Thomas Gustafson offers a fresh perspective on Roth's canonical novel by comparing Old Rimrock to Brookside and examining its relationship to New Jersey literature. He argues that American Anti-Pastoral sheds light on the myths surrounding the bucolic Garden State countryside, unveiling deep fissures along the fault lines of race and religion in American democracy.

For both Philip Roth fans and history enthusiasts, American Anti-Pastoral offers a compelling exploration of the Garden State's rural landscape, unveiling the underlying tensions and conflicts that shape American society.

Weight: 254g
Dimension: 203 x 127 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781978838031