The Human Stain

By Philip Roth

This must be the most ironic book I've ever read. Well written and down-right engaging and thought provoking. It shows how easily people can get carried away by random accusations, and how easily lives can change because of these accusations. It reminded me of an incident that happened last year, or maybe the year before, about a distinguished professor who was accused of being a sexist because of a joke he told at some conference. This escalated so quickly, and in no time he was forced to resign. The plot of the book takes place in the 1990s, before the rise of Facebook and Twitter, and the events don't spread as far and wide as the more recent event I mentioned, but the similarities are quite disconcerting. [384 pp.]

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