Nemesis: A Novel

“Roth’s book has the elegance of a fable and the tragic inevitability of a Greek drama.” —The New Yorker

“Painful and powerful…. Somberly but vividly, [Roth] recreates the panic and fear triggered by polio.” —USA Today

In the stifling summer heat of 1944, a terrifying wartime polio outbreak stalks a close-knit, family-oriented New Jersey community and its children.

At the center of Nemesis is twenty-three-year-old playground director Bucky Cantor, a javelin thrower and weightlifter who is devo...