Well, I actually enjoyed American Pastoral much more than I did back in 2008, when I gave it one star (I wrote then: “The premise of this book was interesting, but it was way, way too wordy … Roth just goes on and on and on with boring details about people that aren’t even seminal to the story. Unimpressed.”)

And, as always, my appreciation was enhanced by a two hour discussion with the smart, widely-read, cosmopolitan folks in my book group. I don’t always sketchnote our meetings, but I’m always glad when I do.