Goodbye, Columbus By Philip Roth

Neil Klugman and pretty, spirited Brenda Patimkin – he of poor Newark, she of suburban Short Hills – meet one summer and dive into an affair that is as much about social class and suspicion as it is about love. The novella, the first book published by Phillip Roth, explores issues of both class and Jewish assimilation into American culture. It won the National Book Award in 1960.