I’m not sure why I thought this might be an uplifting book; however, I needed something that was at least different from the serialized books I have been piling through. No wizards or planets other than earth was my requirement.

So I read my way into a Hitler-sympathetic America. I watched a Jewish family in New York disintegrate through the eyes of their youngest child (Philip Roth). The adults around Roth fall apart. Older siblings, parents, and relatives slowly emerge to be the flawed human beings they always were.

Roth watches, imagines, and dramatizes the world around him. It is terrifying to watch and made even more terrifying because of the truth Roth weaves into this unbelievable world. Elect a Nazi-sympathizer in order to avoid war and keep the comforts of American life? Elect someone who says what you want to hear so that your life does not change and life is easy?