Roth revisits Portnoy: the virile rage survives despite the author's complaint

Philip Roth says that his most famous novel is dated, but like the fallacy of authorial intent we should be sceptical of that reading

Philip Roths revisitation of Portnoys Complaint, his most famous novel, in an essay in the New York Times this week is delicious and poignant and to be taken with a pinch. In what reads like the final, freeing stage of his retirement, Roth drives a stake through the heart of the books eponymous hero, yet again explaining his intent when he wrote it and then promptly dismantling its relevance. Alexander Portnoy, RIP, he writes.

Well, not RIP to the rest of us, for whom the mythology around Portnoy continues to beguile. Roth talked about the novel in last years PBS documentary, telling the story of how, just before it was published, he warned his parents it was likely to cause trouble, at which his mother burst loudly into tears. He has delusions of grandeur, she said.

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