For the last half century, the novels of Philip Roth have re-energized American fiction and redefined its possibilities. Roths comic genius, his imaginative daring, his courage in exploring uncomfortable truths, and his assaults on political, cultural, and sexual orthodoxies have made him one of the essential writers of our time. By special arrangement with the author, The Library of America now inaugurates the definitive edition of Roths collected works. This second volume presents four extraordinarily diverse works displaying the range and originality of his fictional art. When She Was Good 1967 is the trenchant portrait of Lucy Nelson, a young midwestern woman whose perception of her own suffering turns her into a ferocious force, enemy-ridden and unforgivingly defiant, as Roth would later describe her.
