As Stephen Rojack, a decorated war hero & former congressman who murders his wife in a fashionable New York City high-rise, runs amok through the city in which he was once a privileged citizen, Mailer peels away the layers of our social norms to reveal a world of pure appetite & relentless cruelty. One part Nietzsche, one part de Sade, & one part Charlie Parker, An American Dream grabs the reader by the throat & refuses to let go.