This is my third Philip Roth book, and it seems I'm reading his Nathan Zuckerman historical trilogy in reverse order (having started with [b:The Human Stain|11734|The Human Stain (The American Trilogy, #3)|Philip Roth|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1308953496s/11734.jpg|1118624] about ten years ago). Considering just how much this book is consumed with what it means to be a "man" in America, it's odd that I chose this book right after reading [a:Carol Shields|12034|Carol Shields|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1240080700p2/12034.jpg]' [b:Unless|74462|Unless|Carol Shields|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327970989s/74462.jpg|1344971] – almost the polar opposite. I enjoyed both, though I didn't like this one as much as I thought I would, or as much as the esteemed writers of Esquire would have had me believe. There are plenty of great thoughts, and great quotable lines, my favorite being...

"Of course it should not be too surprising to find out that your life story has included an event, something important, that you have known nothing about – your life story is in and of itself something that you know very little about."

It's not too surprising to read that there are some characters and plot lines in I Married a Communist that seem to come directly from Roth's own life. Now I just have to decide whether to read American Pastoral, or just wait until Ewan McGregor directs the film