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Novels, 1967-1972: When She Was Good / Portnoy's Complaint / Our Gang / The Breast
For the last half century, the novels of Philip Roth have re-energized American fiction and redefined its possibilities. Roth's comic genius, his imaginative daring, his courage in exploring uncomfortable truths, and his assaults on political, cultural, and sexual orthodoxies have made him one of the essential writers of our time. By special arrangement with the author, Th...more
Hardcover, 672 pages
Published
August 18th 2005
by Library of America
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The only essential novel contained in this pricey volume is Portnoy's Complaint, the others are for completists only.
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Brilliant and brutal.
When She Was Good has received mixed reviews but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I could feel strong empathy for how trapped Lucy felt and found her horribly flawed but not unlikeable.
Portnoy's Complaint remains the masterpiece it has always been for me.
Our Gang ran a bit long and was a bit base but when when it is good it is fantastic. The particular critique of the lying nature of politics as a marketing enterprise remains apt and ferocious as it ...more
When She Was Good has received mixed reviews but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I could feel strong empathy for how trapped Lucy felt and found her horribly flawed but not unlikeable.
Portnoy's Complaint remains the masterpiece it has always been for me.
Our Gang ran a bit long and was a bit base but when when it is good it is fantastic. The particular critique of the lying nature of politics as a marketing enterprise remains apt and ferocious as it ...more
Philip Roth's Novels: 1967-1972 is a great collection, both because the content itself is often great and because the respect and admiration required to put it together shines through on every page. You have to be a damn good writer to get your work anthologized like this, and Roth doesn't disappoint.
When She Was Good, the first novel, is probably the most difficult of the four. In a dense and meandering story, Roth shows us the complicated lives of mid-20th-century suburban Americ...more
When She Was Good, the first novel, is probably the most difficult of the four. In a dense and meandering story, Roth shows us the complicated lives of mid-20th-century suburban Americ...more
I read Portnoy's Complaint only, because I'm reading the Random House (Modern Library) 100 Best Novels in the English language from this and the last century. It was very funny, but definitely not for everyone. Has some very detailed sexual content. I'm a little surprised it made the list, among Hemingway, D.H. Lawrence, etc.
This collection is the second volume in the Library of America's projected eight volume edition of the complete novels of Philip Roth. While I find 'Our Gang' to be among my least favorite of Roth's writings, which lowers my love of this particular volume, the characteristic voice is always present, and the prose are beautiful. 'When She Was Good' is a strong novel, though I personally am glad that he chose to remain faithful to his Jewish characters in his later works. 'Portnoy's Complaint' is ...more
The Breast introduces David Kepesh in the first volume of a trilogy.
"It appears then that my analysis has 'taken'." I tell Dr. Klinger, "a tribute to you, sir." He laughs. "You were always stronger than you thought." "I would so soon never had to find out. And besides, it's not so. I can't live like this any longer." "Yet you have, you do." "I do, but I can't I was never strong. Only determined.
...It goes back ...more
"It appears then that my analysis has 'taken'." I tell Dr. Klinger, "a tribute to you, sir." He laughs. "You were always stronger than you thought." "I would so soon never had to find out. And besides, it's not so. I can't live like this any longer." "Yet you have, you do." "I do, but I can't I was never strong. Only determined.
...It goes back ...more
I only read Portnoy's Complaint. (I may yet read The Breast which sounds like Kafka's cockroach tale, except the dude turns into a boob. Yes, a real female breast.) Complaint took a long while to get going and was repetitive as hell, but it did provide a little bit of pleasure toward the end. Come to think of it, it's not unlike jerking off.
Portnoys Complaint is what made Roth. Masturbation, Jewish mothers, and complications in love as a result of both. The Breast is Roth comically imitating Kafka's Metamorphosis. Make awakes as breast. Hilarity and existential crisis ensues.
Man, is this a strange short story or what? I wanted to get to the end to find out if the whole story was some delusion.
When She was Good is frankly, disturbing, on a par with The Sterile Cuckoo. It doesn't merit reading again and I would not say it's worth the time other than to connect the dots in Roth's development. It's the one work of Roth's where I think the charge of misogyny is actually accurate.
Portnoy's Complaint. A laugh riot and the first work to show Roth's devotion to the energy of the sentence. A comic meditation on motherhood, Jewishness and masturbation. A sustained and relentless ses...more
Portnoy's Complaint. A laugh riot and the first work to show Roth's devotion to the energy of the sentence. A comic meditation on motherhood, Jewishness and masturbation. A sustained and relentless ses...more
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Philip Milton Roth is an American novelist. He gained early literary fame with the 1959 collection Goodbye, Columbus (winner of 1960's National Book Award), cemented it with his 1969 bestseller Portnoy's Complaint, and has continued to write critically-acclaimed works, many of which feature his fictional alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman. The Zuckerman novels began with The Ghost Writer in 1979, and inc...more
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