Which novel by Philip Roth won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1998?

Which novel by Philip Roth won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1998? The answer is American Pastoral.

Published in 1997, American Pastoral is narrated by Nathan Zuckerman, a recurring Roth character who reconstructs the life of Seymour “Swede” Levov. Swede appears to embody postwar American success: he is an admired athlete, marries a former beauty queen and takes over his father's glove-manufacturing business in Newark, New Jersey.

That idealized image collapses during the social upheaval of the 1960s. Swede's daughter Merry becomes involved in antiwar radicalism and is linked to a bombing, forcing him to confront the limits of his family loyalty and his belief in an orderly American life. The novel's title is deliberately ironic, contrasting pastoral ideals with violence, political conflict and private grief.

The Pulitzer was announced in 1998 for fiction published during the preceding calendar year. Roth had previously written works such as Goodbye, Columbus and Portnoy's Complaint, while The Human Stain came later, in 2000. American Pastoral was Roth's first Pulitzer win and remains one of his most discussed novels.