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Novels 1967–1972: When She Was Good / Portnoy’s Complaint / Our Gang / The Breast
In this, the second volume of The Library of America’s definitive edition of the collected works of Philip Roth, published by special arrangement with the author, the range and inventiveness of Roth’s fiction is dazzlingly displayed in four extraordinarily diverse works.
When She Was Good (1967) is the trenchant portrait of Lucy Nelson, a young midwestern woman whose perception of her own suffering turns her into a ferocious force, “enemy-ridden and unforgivingly defiant,” as Roth would later describe her. A small-town 1940s America of restrictive social pressures and foreclosed opportunities provides the novel’s background.
The publication of the hilarious Portnoy’s Complaint (1969) was a cultural event that turned Roth into a reluctant celebrity. The confession of a bewildered psychoanalytic patient thrust through life by his unappeasable sexuality yet held back by the iron grip of his unforgettable childhood, Portnoy unleashed Roth’s comic virtuosity and opened new avenues for American fiction.
In Our Gang (1971), described by Anthony Burgess as a “brilliant satire in the real Swift tradition,” Roth effects a savage takedown of the administration of Richard Nixon (who figures here as Trick E. Dixon). Written before the revelations of the Watergate scandal, Our Gang continues to resonate as a broad and outraged response to the clownish hypocrisy and moral theatrics of the American political scene.
The Kafkaesque excursion The Breast (1972) introduces David Kepesh in the first volume of a trilogy that continues with The Professor of Desire (1977) and The Dying Animal (2001). The Breast prompted Cynthia Ozick to remark, “One knows when one is reading something that will permanently enter the culture.”
Publisher’s series: Library of America #158
When She Was Good (1967) is the trenchant portrait of Lucy Nelson, a young midwestern woman whose perception of her own suffering turns her into a ferocious force, “enemy-ridden and unforgivingly defiant,” as Roth would later describe her. A small-town 1940s America of restrictive social pressures and foreclosed opportunities provides the novel’s background.
The publication of the hilarious Portnoy’s Complaint (1969) was a cultural event that turned Roth into a reluctant celebrity. The confession of a bewildered psychoanalytic patient thrust through life by his unappeasable sexuality yet held back by the iron grip of his unforgettable childhood, Portnoy unleashed Roth’s comic virtuosity and opened new avenues for American fiction.
In Our Gang (1971), described by Anthony Burgess as a “brilliant satire in the real Swift tradition,” Roth effects a savage takedown of the administration of Richard Nixon (who figures here as Trick E. Dixon). Written before the revelations of the Watergate scandal, Our Gang continues to resonate as a broad and outraged response to the clownish hypocrisy and moral theatrics of the American political scene.
The Kafkaesque excursion The Breast (1972) introduces David Kepesh in the first volume of a trilogy that continues with The Professor of Desire (1977) and The Dying Animal (2001). The Breast prompted Cynthia Ozick to remark, “One knows when one is reading something that will permanently enter the culture.”
Publisher’s series: Library of America #158
672 pages, Hardcover
First published August 18, 2005
12 people are currently reading
221 people want to read
About the author
Philip Roth
254 books7,338 followersPhilip Milton Roth was an American novelist and short-story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophically and formally blurring the distinction between reality and fiction, for its "sensual, ingenious style" and for its provocative explorations of American identity. He first gained attention with the 1959 short story collection Goodbye, Columbus, which won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. Ten years later, he published the bestseller Portnoy's Complaint. Nathan Zuckerman, Roth's literary alter ego, narrates several of his books. A fictionalized Philip Roth narrates some of his others, such as the alternate history The Plot Against America.
Roth was one of the most honored American writers of his generation. He received the National Book Critics Circle award for The Counterlife, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Operation Shylock, The Human Stain, and Everyman, a second National Book Award for Sabbath's Theater, and the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral. In 2005, the Library of America began publishing his complete works, making him the second author so anthologized while still living, after Eudora Welty. Harold Bloom named him one of the four greatest American novelists of his day, along with Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, and Don DeLillo. In 2001, Roth received the inaugural Franz Kafka Prize in Prague.
Roth was one of the most honored American writers of his generation. He received the National Book Critics Circle award for The Counterlife, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Operation Shylock, The Human Stain, and Everyman, a second National Book Award for Sabbath's Theater, and the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral. In 2005, the Library of America began publishing his complete works, making him the second author so anthologized while still living, after Eudora Welty. Harold Bloom named him one of the four greatest American novelists of his day, along with Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, and Don DeLillo. In 2001, Roth received the inaugural Franz Kafka Prize in Prague.
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
November 30, 2010
The only essential novel contained in this pricey volume is Portnoy's Complaint, the others are for completists only.
June 30, 2018
En este volumen, publicado por la Library of America, se reúnen obras "tempranas" del autor, a partir de When She Was Good, la segunda novela que publicó. De las cuatro, solamente me gustaron las dos primeras; la sátira delirante sobre NIXON, Our Gang, aunque sigue siendo relevante porque retrata muy bien lo hipócrita y "teatrero" de los políticos, me resultó un poco aburrida; finalmente The Breast es demasiado "Kafka", aunque al profesor Kepesh le va muchísimo mejor que al pobre de Gregorio Samsa.
"When She Was Good" llama la atención porque es la única novela de ROTH con un personaje principal femenino, y Lucy está tan bien descrita que realmente llegué a odiarla... "¡pero que le pasa a esta mujer!" pensé varias veces mientras leía el libro.
"Portnoy's Complaint" es, al contrario, muy divertida, y mientras la leía no pude evitar recordar las viñetas de Woody ALLEN en el diván del psicólogo, y también los capítulos de la serie de televisión "Seinfeld"; me parece que el libro anticipa el humor "judío" de la serie...
"When She Was Good" llama la atención porque es la única novela de ROTH con un personaje principal femenino, y Lucy está tan bien descrita que realmente llegué a odiarla... "¡pero que le pasa a esta mujer!" pensé varias veces mientras leía el libro.
"Portnoy's Complaint" es, al contrario, muy divertida, y mientras la leía no pude evitar recordar las viñetas de Woody ALLEN en el diván del psicólogo, y también los capítulos de la serie de televisión "Seinfeld"; me parece que el libro anticipa el humor "judío" de la serie...
November 7, 2017
Since my goal is to work my way through all of Roth's novels and short stories and novellas during November, I tag team my audiobooks with reading print at other points of the day. Driving in the car? Audio. Walking the dogs at night? Audio. Sitting in a chair by the window sipping coffee? Print all the way. The only work in this volume to not exist as an audiobook is the somewhat dated satire "Our Gang" which lampoons the first Nixon administration. Is it not in audio form because it's a lesser Roth? Then why have "The Breast" which is also lesser Roth?
Likely the reasons are two: in the satire, Nixon is struggling against controversy that might prevent him from getting to a second term. He did (and went on to live for another few decades), so the book sort of fails as a predictive satire. Also, much of political satire's sting comes from topicality and the alliterative penchant of Spiro Agnew is prodded for laughs here, but a lot of modern listeners/readers might just shrug and not get all the jokes.
At any rate, a solid collection of Roth in his prime.
Likely the reasons are two: in the satire, Nixon is struggling against controversy that might prevent him from getting to a second term. He did (and went on to live for another few decades), so the book sort of fails as a predictive satire. Also, much of political satire's sting comes from topicality and the alliterative penchant of Spiro Agnew is prodded for laughs here, but a lot of modern listeners/readers might just shrug and not get all the jokes.
At any rate, a solid collection of Roth in his prime.
August 22, 2018
When She Was Good (*** 1/2 out of 5) Read June 2017
Portnoy's Complaint (**** out of 5) Re-read December 2017
Our Gang (** 1/2 out of 5) Read May 2018
The Breast (*** out of 5) Read August 2018
Portnoy's Complaint is the lone masterpiece in this second volume of Roth's collected works, but each of the others has its merits as well. Roth seems like he's still trying on new voices with each successive work, but he's closer with the confessional daringness of Portnoy and The Breast than he is with the others. The Nixon satire Our Gang is suitably vicious but terribly dated.
Onto Volume 3!
Portnoy's Complaint (**** out of 5) Re-read December 2017
Our Gang (** 1/2 out of 5) Read May 2018
The Breast (*** out of 5) Read August 2018
Portnoy's Complaint is the lone masterpiece in this second volume of Roth's collected works, but each of the others has its merits as well. Roth seems like he's still trying on new voices with each successive work, but he's closer with the confessional daringness of Portnoy and The Breast than he is with the others. The Nixon satire Our Gang is suitably vicious but terribly dated.
Onto Volume 3!
August 12, 2024
Tout a été dit sur ce roman controversé, hilarant et tragique. Ce roman qui a lancé la carrière du grand écrivain Philip Roth.
Alex, le narrateur est en séance de psychanalyse. Cette voix, vulgaire et humoristique, est celle d'un jeune Juif obsédé par sa sexualité - pour ne pas dire crûment par son pénis et par la masturbation - a fait hurler d'indignation la communauté juive aussi bien israélienne qu'américaine au moment de sa parution.
Tout y passe : ses parents, son éducation, les filles ou se qu'elles représentent comme opportunité de jouir, sa grande intelligence (158 de quotient intellectuel!) sa réussite professionnelle, la politique américaine, etc. De quoi décrocher la mâchoire du lecteur à force d'éclats de rire. Un "master work", petit chef d'oeuvre qui marque d'une pierre blanche l'histoire de la littérature américaine.
Alex, le narrateur est en séance de psychanalyse. Cette voix, vulgaire et humoristique, est celle d'un jeune Juif obsédé par sa sexualité - pour ne pas dire crûment par son pénis et par la masturbation - a fait hurler d'indignation la communauté juive aussi bien israélienne qu'américaine au moment de sa parution.
Tout y passe : ses parents, son éducation, les filles ou se qu'elles représentent comme opportunité de jouir, sa grande intelligence (158 de quotient intellectuel!) sa réussite professionnelle, la politique américaine, etc. De quoi décrocher la mâchoire du lecteur à force d'éclats de rire. Un "master work", petit chef d'oeuvre qui marque d'une pierre blanche l'histoire de la littérature américaine.
November 4, 2017
A colleague said condescendingly that Roth's humor is adolescent. Sure it is, but which of us have grown out of our adolescence so completely that we do not recognize its old growth in our selves? "Portnoy's Complaint" is superb in in its inventive humor. The anti-Nixon satire of "Our Gang" I find rather tiresome. The Kafkaesque "The Breast" is unexpectedly moving.
Read
August 6, 2019Actually, finished only with Portnoy, which is why I cracked this LoA volume. I'm surprised I had not read this before. It's a coming (no pun intended) of age novel masquerading as a ribald sexcapade. I read it now to put together bigger thoughts about the career arc of the writer who is/was, perhaps, the novelist of our time.
August 22, 2020
Please see my reviews of each of the four works included in this volume.
I read the first edition of this book: as with the first volume of Roth's works published by LOA, the editors followed the original printings of each of the works. The ones published by Random House contain quite noticeable (and annoying) typographical errors that make this edition fall short of definitive.
I read the first edition of this book: as with the first volume of Roth's works published by LOA, the editors followed the original printings of each of the works. The ones published by Random House contain quite noticeable (and annoying) typographical errors that make this edition fall short of definitive.
August 22, 2017
There are four stories included in this collection. I only read "When She Was Good" and "Portnoy's Complaint."
April 28, 2021
When She Was Good - 5 stars
Portnoy’s Complaint - 4 stars
Other 2 novellas not read at this time.
Portnoy’s Complaint - 4 stars
Other 2 novellas not read at this time.
July 26, 2008
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 America. Or rather, one complicated life in mid-20th-century America, which spins out of control and wrecks all the other lives. The morality play is fascinating at times, but altogether the novel is wearisome.
The second is Portnoy's Complaint, arguably Roth's most popular novel. The honesty and sheer audacity of it all is quite impressive, but I expected more genuine laughter, and not the occasional guilty, uncomfortable chuckle that comes from ridiculing old Jewish people and whorish ex-girlfriends.
Our Gang, the third, is a blisteringly funny satire of Nixon's political career. Roth treats the goofy and absurd comedy of his fake president and motley crew of idiots and evildoers like it's actual serious dramatic business, and for that I'm thankful. But where that earnestness and enthusiasm might help a comedic essay maintain a level of wisdom, it's a little overwhelming in a novella-length piece like this.
The Breast, the final novel, is a masterpiece. It has the best qualities of each of three preceeding it: the bold and complex prose of When She Was Good, the sexual candor of Portnoy, and the smart comedy of Our Gang. But where When She Was Good gets trapped in its own depth and complications, The Breast skates along on top and avoids all those pitfalls. Where Portnoy's Complaint was as much droning anger and ugly yelling as actual wit or fun, The Breast skips right to the end, delivering the clever and heartbreakingly real moments of the American male's sex life without all the prattling and bluster. Where Our Gang sometimes takes its humor a little too seriously, it's The Breast that takes its seriousness humorously, creating an irresistable and sprightly mood.
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 America. Or rather, one complicated life in mid-20th-century America, which spins out of control and wrecks all the other lives. The morality play is fascinating at times, but altogether the novel is wearisome.
The second is Portnoy's Complaint, arguably Roth's most popular novel. The honesty and sheer audacity of it all is quite impressive, but I expected more genuine laughter, and not the occasional guilty, uncomfortable chuckle that comes from ridiculing old Jewish people and whorish ex-girlfriends.
Our Gang, the third, is a blisteringly funny satire of Nixon's political career. Roth treats the goofy and absurd comedy of his fake president and motley crew of idiots and evildoers like it's actual serious dramatic business, and for that I'm thankful. But where that earnestness and enthusiasm might help a comedic essay maintain a level of wisdom, it's a little overwhelming in a novella-length piece like this.
The Breast, the final novel, is a masterpiece. It has the best qualities of each of three preceeding it: the bold and complex prose of When She Was Good, the sexual candor of Portnoy, and the smart comedy of Our Gang. But where When She Was Good gets trapped in its own depth and complications, The Breast skates along on top and avoids all those pitfalls. Where Portnoy's Complaint was as much droning anger and ugly yelling as actual wit or fun, The Breast skips right to the end, delivering the clever and heartbreakingly real moments of the American male's sex life without all the prattling and bluster. Where Our Gang sometimes takes its humor a little too seriously, it's The Breast that takes its seriousness humorously, creating an irresistable and sprightly mood.
December 27, 2009
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 session on an Analyst's couch. This is not Sabbaths' theater but some will find it offensive. But if you've seen American Pie or There's Something About Mary then none of the masturbation jokes will seem unfamiliar, in fact, you'll think they ripped off Roth. The work would bring Roth actual fame, recognized continually on the streets as the 'pervert Jew'. Aside from the anti-semitism the real shocking part is that there was time in America when a novelist was a mass market celebrity. Like his literary hero Lonoff, Roth flees New York and moves into the woods of Connecticut.
The Breast (1972)
Roth's tribute & parody of Kafka, his professor of desire wakes up as a breast and the world emerges from that perspective. There are comic moments but I don't think it comes off. Would have worked as a very short story but not sustainable as a novella. Revisit Gregor Samsa if you want to be truly disoriented.
Our Gang. Roth's send up of the Nixon cohorts. A pretty broad brush and some fairly obvious strokes. Doesn't hold up but it probably seemed on the mark at the time.
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 session on an Analyst's couch. This is not Sabbaths' theater but some will find it offensive. But if you've seen American Pie or There's Something About Mary then none of the masturbation jokes will seem unfamiliar, in fact, you'll think they ripped off Roth. The work would bring Roth actual fame, recognized continually on the streets as the 'pervert Jew'. Aside from the anti-semitism the real shocking part is that there was time in America when a novelist was a mass market celebrity. Like his literary hero Lonoff, Roth flees New York and moves into the woods of Connecticut.
The Breast (1972)
Roth's tribute & parody of Kafka, his professor of desire wakes up as a breast and the world emerges from that perspective. There are comic moments but I don't think it comes off. Would have worked as a very short story but not sustainable as a novella. Revisit Gregor Samsa if you want to be truly disoriented.
Our Gang. Roth's send up of the Nixon cohorts. A pretty broad brush and some fairly obvious strokes. Doesn't hold up but it probably seemed on the mark at the time.
August 10, 2013
Five stars for Portnoy. The book is funny to the extreme, and sad as well, when you come to think of it, and it is spot on with respect to the cultural phenomenon of the Jewish mother (and Jewish families, Jewish neuroses, Jewish longings, etc., etc.), even if it is less accurate in describing the generation after Roth. Four starts to When She Was Good, a very moving and interior view of a young woman with a troubled family as we watch her psyche melt down. Four stars as well to Roth's Nixon parody, Our Gang. I read this in 1972 as a 14-yr-old, and thought that it was hysterically funny then. I read it again just in time to celebrate the 39th anniversary of Nixon's resignation, and found myself laughing out loud, as Roth is simply pitch-perfect in his dissection of the Tricky One. Only three starts for The Breast. It has its moments, but is too self-consciously derivative of Kafka's Metamorphosis and Gogol's The Nose, even if meant as a late 20th-century send-up/homage to those works.
December 31, 2007
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 brilliant, and needs no more words from me. 'The Breast' I found exciting and provocative, and would recommend to all who those who love the very edge of classic literature--conservative but edgy.
January 29, 2012
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 is written.
The Breast was unique to say the least. Clearly referential to prior fantasies but yet adds a new dimension and tenor to the story of transformation.
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 is written.
The Breast was unique to say the least. Clearly referential to prior fantasies but yet adds a new dimension and tenor to the story of transformation.
September 4, 2009
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 to handing in homework in on time and carrying off all the prizes."
-Excerpt "The Breast" by P. Roth
"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 to handing in homework in on time and carrying off all the prizes."
-Excerpt "The Breast" by P. Roth
October 6, 2007
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.
July 25, 2009
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.
May 29, 2007
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.
March 21, 2008
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.
February 28, 2015
The pleasant surprise here is "When She Was Good": a tart, traditional, closely observed novel about a tragic character.
March 25, 2016
When She Was Good - finished 11.29.13
Portnoy's Complaint - finished 01.02.15
Our Gang - finished 11.11.15
The Breast - finished 03.24.16
Portnoy's Complaint - finished 01.02.15
Our Gang - finished 11.11.15
The Breast - finished 03.24.16
Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews