by Philip Roth
First published 2008
1951. Marcus Messner, a studious Newark teen, flees his overbearing father's paranoia to attend college in Ohio. But the pastoral campus offers no refuge, as Marcus navigates a world of new customs, cold authority, and sexual temptation. As his father's unhinged anxieties loom, Marcus must forge his own path through the hazards of young adulthood.
Genres: american-fiction, 20th-century, coming-of-age, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: family-drama, fish-out-of-water
Setting: New Jersey, Ohio
Period: 1951
235 pages · Hardcover · Houghton Mifflin Harcourt