Book blurbs will say American Pastoral is about the myth of the American Dream, but it's really about how that myth has created an American entitlement — to prosperity, to happiness, to life-long health-and-wealth — and the gut punch that occurs when those things inevitably don't happen. It's a pandemic reality check.

With 1000+ pages, a ton of footnotes, and support blogs to help readers get through it, why take on this "maddening and magnificent novel"? Because "its rewards are as big as its size."