WEST ORANGE, NJ — Discuss Philip Roth’s “The Plot Against America” at a book club event at B’nai Shalom, 300 Pleasant Valley Way in West Orange, on Saturday, Dec. 14, at 1 p.m. In 2004, Roth’s award-winning book explored Jewish identity and the too-easy assumption of security. Come to discuss this once-more-timely novel with Robert Berger, an avid reader of history and an experienced book group leader.
In “The Plot Against America,” Roth mined his own youth in the Weequahic section of Newark to ground his frightening alternative history in believable, true-to-life detail. Channeling the isolationism and anti-Semitism prevalent in 1930s America, Roth posits that in 1940, aviator and anti-Semite Charles Lindbergh was elected president instead of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The consequences for the American Jewish community are described through the eyes of a young “Philip Roth,” who becomes more and more terrified.
Discussion will be more enjoyable for those who have read, or recently reread, this provocative American classic. This event is free; register in advance at the Culture and Learning Center at B’nai Shalom website at www.clc@bnaishalom.net.
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