EPISODE · Apr 17, 2026 · 48 MIN
American Pastoral, part 1: Baby's First Lit Fic
from Do You Even Lit? · host cam and benny feat. rich
The Swede was the poster boy for the American dream. Football star. Marine. Marries a beauty queen. Inherits dad's glove factory and treats the workers like family. Buys the stone farmhouse in Old Rimrock, New Jersey. Loves his daughter unconditionally. Protests the Vietnam War in his own measured way, just to show her he's on her side. Then his precious little girl blows up the local post office and kills a man. "This says a lot about Society."—Philip Roth In this episode, covering the first five chapters of Roth's Pullitzer prize-winning novel, we find ourselves a book club divided. Rich hated the opening frame story. Nathan's over-interpretation of the Swede's every fart is written that way on purpose but that doesn't make it any less of a suffocating 80 pages to wade through. File under 'writers wanking themselves off about writing'. meanwhile Ben is deeply moved. He defends the frame story and mounts a convincing case that it's doing real work on memory, regret, and mortality. Cam is kind of on the fence but overall he likes the book. "I like the book."—Cam Opinions will no doubt change as we move into the second half but there's one thing we can say for sure: Basketball was never like this, Skip. CHAPTERS: (00:00:00) hot takes: mid-wit or masterpiece? (00:03:35) synopsis and the Zuckerman frame story (00:07:48) the Swede as WASP-adjacent golden boy (00:13:59) is the American Dream ever not a fantasy (00:17:21) Merry gets radicalised: a parent's worst nightmare (00:25:2) Rich rant on Zuckerman/Roth's cloying line-by-line exegesis (00:31:50) Benny's defence of the frame story (00:36:18) would you go to your 50-year high school reunion? (00:44:37) Woolf did it better tho WRITE US: We love listener feedback. Send us a note at [email protected] to correct our hot takes, add your own, or ask a question. NEXT ON THE READING LIST: The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas - Ursula K. Le Guin
What this episode covers
The Swede was the poster boy for the American dream. Football star. Marine. Marries a beauty queen. Inherits dad's glove factory and treats the workers like family. Buys the stone farmhouse in Old Rimrock, New Jersey. Loves his daughter unconditionally. Protests the Vietnam War in his own measured way, just to show her he's on her side. Then his precious little girl blows up the local post office and kills a man. "This says a lot about Society."—Philip Roth In this episode, covering the first five chapters of Roth's Pullitzer prize-winning novel, we find ourselves a book club divided. Rich hated the opening frame story. Nathan's over-interpretation of the Swede's every fart is written that way on purpose but that doesn't make it any less of a suffocating 80 pages to wade through. File under 'writers wanking themselves off about writing'. meanwhile Ben is deeply moved. He defends the frame story and mounts a convincing case that it's doing real work on memory, regret, and mortality. Cam is kind of on the fence but overall he likes the book. "I like the book."—Cam Opinions will no doubt change as we move into the second half but there's one thing we can say for sure: Basketball was never like this, Skip. CHAPTERS: (00:00:00) hot takes: mid-wit or masterpiece?(00:03:35) synopsis and the Zuckerman frame story(00:07:48) the Swede as WASP-adjacent golden boy(00:13:59) is the American Dream ever not a fantasy(00:17:21) Merry gets radicalised: a parent's worst nightmare(00:25:2) Rich rant on Zuckerman/Roth's cloying line-by-line exegesis(00:31:50) Benny's defence of the frame story(00:36:18) would you go to your 50-year high school reunion?(00:44:37) Woolf did it better tho WRITE US: We love listener feedback. Send us a note at [email protected] to correct our hot takes, add your own, or ask a question. NEXT ON THE READING LIST: The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas - Ursula K. Le Guin
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American Pastoral, part 1: Baby's First Lit Fic
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