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      When She Was Good

      by Philip Roth
      Published
      May 1967
      Main Genre
      Literary Literary
      Rating
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      About This Book

      In this funny and chilling novel, the setting is a small town in the 1940s Midwest, and the subject is the heart of a wounded and ferociously moralistic young woman, one of those implacable American moralists whose "goodness" is a terrible disease.

      When she was still a child, Lucy Nelson had her alcoholic failure of a father thrown in jail. Ever since then she has been trying to reform the men around her, even if that ultimately means destroying herself in the process. With his unerring portraits of Lucy and her hapless, childlike husband, Roy, Roth has created an uncompromising work of fictional realism, a vision of provincial American piety, yearning, and discontent that is at once pitiless and compassionate.

      Genres & Themes

      Genres

      General Fiction

      Subgenres

      Literary

      Themes

      Small Town

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      Paperback

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      Feb 1995 Vintage ISBN13 9780679759256 ISBN10 0679759255
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      Sep 1985 Penguin ISBN13 9780140076769 ISBN10 014007676X
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      Oct 2007 Vintage ISBN13 9780099484998 ISBN10 0099484994
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      Hardcover

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      May 1967 Random House ISBN13 9780394451879 ISBN10 0394451872
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      eBook

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      Dec 2010 Vintage ISBN13 9781407018690 ISBN10 1407018698
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      Apr 2011 Knopf ISBN13 9780307788603 ISBN10 0307788601
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      Apr 2011 Vintage ISBN10 B004EBT6L0
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      May 2026 Mariner Books Classics ISBN13 9780063499959 ISBN10 0063499959
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      Audio

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      Nov 2009 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781441805331 ISBN10 1441805338
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      Nov 2009 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781441805362 ISBN10 1441805362
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      Nov 2009 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781441805348 ISBN10 1441805346
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      Nov 2009 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781441805386 ISBN10 1441805389
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      Nov 2009 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781441805379 ISBN10 1441805370
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      Nov 2009 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781441805355 ISBN10 1441805354
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      Nov 2009 Brilliance Audio ISBN10 B002X98J9U
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      Dec 2011 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781455832422 ISBN10 1455832421
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      Dec 2011 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781455832439 ISBN10 145583243X
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      Dec 2011 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781455847839 ISBN10 1455847836
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      Aug 2015 Brilliance Audio ISBN13 9781501289316 ISBN10 1501289314
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      Jul 2024 Blackstone Audiobooks ISBN13 9798212383646 ISBN10 B0CWN8XHZF
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      Jul 2024 Blackstone Audiobooks ISBN13 9798212383639 ISBN10 B0CWN59V5V
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