Philip Roth

When the renowned aviation hero and rabid isolationist Charles A. Lindbergh defeated Franklin Roosevelt by a landslide in the 1940 presidential election, fear invaded every Jewish household in America. Not only had Lindbergh, in a nationwide radio address, publicly blamed the Jews for selfishly pushing America toward a pointless war with Nazi Germany, but, upon taking office as the thirty-third president of the United States, he negotiated a cordial...

Everything is over for Simon Axler. A leading American actor of his generation, Simon has lost his magic, his talent, and his assurance. When he goes on stage he feels like a lunatic and imagines people laughing at him. His wife is gone, his audience has left him, and his agent can't persuade him to make a comeback.

Against the backdrop of the Korean War, a young man faces life's unimagined chances and terrifying consequences. "Indignation" is at once a startling departure from the haunted narratives of old age and a powerful addition to Roth's investigations of the impact of American history on the life of the vulnerable individual.