Philip Milton Roth (born March 19, 1933) is an American writer, author of more than 25 novels, winner of the Pulitzer Prize. “The Human Brand” is perhaps Roth’s best book: its pages reflect a whole range of problems that extremely relevant in modern American society, but this is not the only value of the novel: the deep psychological analysis to which the author subjects his characters reveals to the reader the most different sides of human nature, the most different types of human relationships, the most different nuances of behavior, inherent not only to the inhabitants of this specific country and therefore interesting to everyone. On top of everything else, the novel is masterfully constructed, the tension that arises almost from the very beginning steadily increases, the reader is constantly presented with new surprises, one after another. others erase the “blank spots” in the biographies of the characters, demonstrating new character traits. The main character of the novel is Coleman Silk, an intellectual, a promising boxer in his youth, a bright, if not brilliant, person - one of those who are usually called a “strong personality” - who paid a high price to build his life not as it should according to all established canons, but as he himself wanted. And, it seems, he achieved his goal: he is a respected professor, dean, who revolutionized the educational process at a provincial university, he has an energetic wife and four children (and only one of them is a failure), no one knows about his secret (and the reader finds out not immediately). However, trouble happens: the professor is accused of racism: he allegedly insulted two of his black men female students This is a complete misunderstanding, he never even saw careless students, he was misunderstood, but in America, obsessed with political correctness, there is no excuse for him. Silk is bullied and forced to leave the university; Unable to bear what happened, his wife dies. The persecution continues even after his departure - Silka’s young colleague, an ambitious French woman hired by him, takes revenge for her unrequited (and unconscious) feelings for him. However, before that, immediately after the death of his wife, he asked a writer he knew little about to write a book about how everything really happened. Next we follow Silk's present and past through the eyes of this writer. The picture unfolds gradually, the reader, following the hero, travels through time and little by little learns all the details of his life. He learns that Silk, who is over seventy, has a young mistress who teaches him a different, unusual attitude towards life, when things are accepted as they are. He will find out everything about her and about her ex-husband, a “moved” veteran of the Vietnam War, who will put a tragic end to the story. Узнает и самую главную тайну Силка: профессор, называющий себя евреем, обвиненный в расизме, на самом деле… светлокожий негр, сознательно отрекшийся от своей крови, чтобы никогда не услышать в свой адрес даже беззвучного „ниггер“.По роману был снят фильм („ Tarnished Reputation“, 2003) starring Anthony Hopkins and Nicole Kidman.