The Human Stain
By Philip Roth

Lists of well-loved books are always changing—I just read this novel last week. It starts as a story about political correctness and moral superiority, but it becomes an examination of identity in the deepest sense. There isn't another novelist who comes close to Roth for passion and relentless honesty. Read his first book, Goodbye, Columbus, and his Pulitzer Prize-winner, American Pastoral, to see the full arc of Roth's extraordinary career.