The main character's story ends as he realizes that his wife Dawn, a former Miss New Jersey, is having an affair with Orcutt.
The narrator of this novel attends his 45th high school reunion and sees such old acquaintances as Mendy Gurlik, a delinquent who taught him how to jack off. Nathan Zuckerman then sees Jerry, the confrontational brother of the main character, and decides to recount said main character's life story. The main character's story ends as he realizes that his wife Dawn, a former Miss New Jersey, is having an affair with Orcutt. After a career as a star athlete at Weequahic High, he inherits his father Lou's Newark Maid glove business, but his life unravels in 1968 when his radical daughter Merry blows up a post office. For ten points, name this 1997 Pulitzer Prize winning novel about Seymour "Swede" Levov, Philip Roth's not-so-idyllic account of America in the 50's and 60's.
The narrator of this novel attends his 45th high school reunion and sees such old acquaintances as Mendy Gurlik, a delinquent who taught him how to jack off.
{American Pastoral}