American Pastoral, by Phillip Roth

A book I have been working on for about 3 years. I finally got down to business and started over, finishing it via audio. The long history I've had with this book made me like it more than I would have if I had finished it on my first try instead of my third. Anyway, I thought it was great. The Swede is such an incredible character because he can be three totally different people depending on who's talking about him. In the beginning he's described as the hero of Weequahic, Newark, the shining symbol of American culture in a community made mostly of Jewish immigrants. Shortly after his death, his younger brother reveals him to be a weak, innocent man-child who never grew out of the American dream. Over the rest of the book, we see from his perspective that he's as strong as his town believed him to be, but completely unaware of what it's like to have life deny his dreams. Until his daughter, Merry, bombs a post office.