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Portnoy's Complaint

Philip Roth

3.70 · Rating details · 50,251 ratings · 2,613 reviews

The famous confession of Alexander Portnoy, who is thrust through life by his unappeasable sexuality, yet held back at the same time by the iron grip of his unforgettable childhood. Hilariously funny, boldly intimate, startlingly candid, Portnoy’s Complaint was an immediate bestseller upon its publication in 1969, and is perhaps Roth’s best-known book.

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Paperback, 274 pages

Published May 18th 1995 by Vintage (first published 1969)

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· 50,251 ratings · 2,613 reviews

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Apr 27, 2015 Glenn Sumi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: contemp-classics, modern-library-100, guardian-1000

Updated May 22, 2018: R.I.P. Philip Roth. Author of some of the defining works of the late 20th century (and even some of the early 21st). What a magnificent second act you had... and what a legacy you leave behind.

***

21 Random Thoughts After Reading Philip Roth’s Classic Portnoy’s Complaint 46 Years After Its Controversial Publication

1. I’ve read three or four Philip Roth books, but how have I never read this, which catapulted him to literary fame – or at least notoriety and celebrity – in the ...more

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Aug 28, 2007 Malbadeen rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: Sarah's other pervey friends

Recommended to Malbadeen by: Sarah (what a perv)

Shelves: confused-or-informed-my-sexuality

It's recently been brought to my attention that my book reviews frequently are not actually about the book. And I'm wondering why would you want to know about the book when all you have to do is click on the little blurb about the book and then get on with the fascinating reading about...oh, say where I bought my milk last Tuesday or my fondest/most traumatic childhood memory, etc, etc.
And, yet. I aim to please so here is my sincere attempt to tell you something about this book. It (the book) go ...more

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Sep 12, 2014 Luís C. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001-done, favourites, us-canada-author, dom-quixote, 200-300, reading-the-world

The case of an American Jew torn between the perfection imposed by parents and personal freedom, touches the universal! Alexander (at least for me) is not the prototype of the living Jew in the United States, suffocated by a severely exemplary education, where the parents choose the route to follow for their son, the latter who finds this life bland and demanding, who throws herself into the most insatiable sexuality (from his childhood), he is a universal being who exists everywhere in the worl ...more

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Mar 06, 2019 Em Lost In Books rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1960-69, 2019, 4-star, stand-alone-read

What a dirty little book! Kudos to Mr. Roth for writing something this scandalous half a century ago.

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Feb 19, 2014 G.R. Reader rated it did not like it

Portnoy's Complaint was my first husband's favorite book, and he used to quote from it all the time. When we got divorced (it wasn't amicable), my lawyer asked how I'd feel about using that fact in court. I was strongly tempted but told him after careful consideration that it was below the belt.

As it turned out, my instincts were sound. The judge knew Philip Roth personally, and it would have been a disaster. I only discovered this several years later and was amazed at what a close call I'd had.

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Jun 29, 2010 Shovelmonkey1 rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Recommends it for: those who are adventurous with offal

Recommended to Shovelmonkey1 by: 1001 books list

Shelves: 1001-books

Earlier today I grossly contradicted myself by stating that I'd enjoyed all the books I'd read which were written by Philip Roth. Then I realised I'd forgotten about Portnoy's Complaint.

There is a school of thought which says to write well you have to write about what you know. On that basis I know I definitely did not like this book, although that unfortunately does not guarantee that I will excel at writing about it. With that in mind Philip Roth is official King of writing about what you know ...more

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May 12, 2018 Gorkem rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: amerikan

Portnoy'un Feryadı, dönemsel olarak bakıldığında neden çok fazla rahatsız edici olabileceği çok net bir şekilde anlaşabiliyor. Cinsel devrim öncesi, bireysel cinsel varoluşun hem algılaması , hem dinsel öğeler, hem de Freudyen bakışı yapılandırma açısından bence özel bir kitap. Bu perspektiften bakıldığında 4 yıldız. Hatta, Oedipus gönderimleri, Portnoy gibi karakter yaratımı ve anlatımı bakımından 5 yıldız bile olabilirdi, eğer 1960'larda ABD'de yaşasaydım.

Şu an için değerlendirdiğimde, Roth'u ...more

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Jul 16, 2016 Michael Finocchiaro rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, american-20th-c, american-21st-c, pulitzer-fiction, favorites, novels

This is the book that made Philip Roth both famous and scandalous. Portnoy is a mother-obsessed sexual maniac and actually quite hilarious. Who else would have had his character masturbating with a cow liver other than the author of the equally darkly humorous Sabbath's Theater? This book and the reaction to it drives the Nathan Zuckerman series of books which all refer back to the public reaction with equal measures of awe and dismay. The book itself is a classic and extremely well-written as o ...more

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May 28, 2018 ArturoBelano rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Her zamanki gibi ağır spoiler içerir.

" Kadir-i mutlak tanrı hazretlerini ciddi biçimde rencide etmeden bir bardak sütün yanında bir salamlı sandviç yemeyi bile düşünemezdim. Bir de öyle otuzbiri çekip çekip fışkırtmakla vicdanıma nasıl bir yük bindirdiğimi düşünün hele ! “

Portnoy’un Feryadı edebiyat tarihinin en ağzı bozuk, terbiyesiz ve provakatif eserlerinden biri ki Türkiye’de haklı bir şekilde yargılanıp haksız bir şekilde beraat etmesi bunun göstergelerinden biri. Merak etmeyin ağzının bozu Her zamanki gibi ağır spoiler içerir.

" Kadir-i mutlak tanrı hazretlerini ciddi biçimde rencide etmeden bir bardak sütün yanında bir salamlı sandviç yemeyi bile düşünemezdim. Bir de öyle otuzbiri çekip çekip fışkırtmakla vicdanıma nasıl bir yük bindirdiğimi düşünün hele ! “

Portnoy’un Feryadı edebiyat tarihinin en ağzı bozuk, terbiyesiz ve provakatif eserlerinden biri ki Türkiye’de haklı bir şekilde yargılanıp haksız bir şekilde beraat etmesi bunun göstergelerinden biri. Merak etmeyin ağzının bozukluğu üçüncü sınıf yeraltı edebiyatı argosundan kaynaklı değil ve haklı bir şekilde yargılanması derken ironi yapmıyorum bu eser 1968’in Amerika’sında yazılmış olmasına rağmen 50 yıl sonra bile biz hala bunları ne konuşacak ne de yazacak düzeye gelmiş değiliz. Nihayetinde Türkiye’de cinsellik mevzusu taciz tecavüz zina bermuda şeytan üçgeninde yaşanan, ayıp yorgan altında olur ile deyimleşen bir halet i ruhiyede icra edilmeye devam ediyor ve bu kitabın edepsizliği ve açıklığı maalesef bize fazla. Neyse Portnoy’le birlikte hepimizin ortak feryadına biraz yakından bakmaya çalışalım ve evvala psikanalistin divanından figanını haykıran karakterimizin idi ve onu baskılayan toplumsal yapıya yakından bakalım.

Kitap ilk gençliği ve olgunluğunu 45- 68 yılları arasında Newark’da Yahudi geleneklerinin baskın olduğu bir ortamda geçiren 30’lu yaşların başında başarılı,toplumda saygın bir yere gelmiş, arzuları, dürtüleri ve onu baskılayan yapıların doğurduğu utanç duygusu ile baş edemeyen Portnoy’un psikanalistin divanından yükselen feryadının monolog yöntemi ile aktarılması ile oluşuyor. Bu biçim yazarın anlatmak istediği meseleye cuk diye oturduğunu söyleyebilirim. Biz kitap boyunca psikanalisti görmeyiz ve monolog sorularla bölünmez bu ise karakterin dolup taşmışlığını vurgulamak için işlevsel oluyor eserde.
Portnoy’un Amerika’sı çekirdek ailenin banliyöyede icat olduğu, ilerlemenin, gelişmenin ve toplumsal ödevlerin bireyi belirlediği bir dünyayı ve bir de buna Yahudi inancının şekillendirdiği bir yığın kural ve kaide eklenince karşımıza idi ve süperegosu, istekler ve kurallar çatışması ile bölünmüş öznenin bunalımlarını çıkarıyor. “ Her yerde hazır ve nazır” bir anne, doğru düzgün sıçamayan sigortacı bir baba ve sütyeni ie fantezilere dalınan bir abla. Kitabın temel derdi bastırılmış bir cinsellik olsa da yazar aynı zamanda Mc Carthy Amerika’sının yasaklı konularına da değinmeden geçmiyor. Portnoy’un Komünist eniştesi, okulda söylenen Enternasyoneler ve ileride karakterimizin yürüttüğü insan hakları ve ayrımcılık karşıtı çalışmaları bize Portnoy’un döneme ve zamanın ruhuna uymayan karakterinin diğer yönlerini de çiziyor.

“ Kolumu sallasam ayıplancak bir ayıba çarpıyor. ” Kitap Lineer bir hat izlememekle birlikte bize hikayeyi en baştan anlatmaya başlıyor. Çocukluk anılarında karşımıza “ Tanıdığı en unutulmaz şahsiyet” her şeyi bilen her yerde hazır dominant bir anne karakteri çıkıyor. Örneklerine sıkça rastladığımız oğluşuna prens muamelesi çeken bir anne. Babanın etkisiz eleman olduğu evde her şey anneden soruluyor,oğul annenin yasağı ile şekilleniyor. Bu çocukluk anılarından elimizde bıçağı ile oğlunu tehdit eden ( “ bunun bir şaka olduğunu düşünmemi mi bekliyordu) anne ve bir testisini uzun bir süre kaybetmesi kalıyor ve bu bize kastrasyona götürüyor, hadım edilmemiş ama onun korkusunu hisseden bir çocuk ve ergenliğe adım atınca o cehennemi ortamdan çıkışı çavuşu tokatlamada buluyor hem de durmaksızın. Ancak bu cici, neredeyse Einstein çocuğumuz bir ayıp ve felaket korkusu olmadan bu işi de beceremiyor, masturbasyona başladığına kanser olacağını, karşı cinsle ( Yahudi olmayan bir şikse) ilk yakınlaştığında ömür boyu sakat kalacağını( kay kay bölümü) ve ilk cinsel deneyiminde ( evet yine büyük bir günah, kız Yahudi değil) kör kalacağına inanıyor, bizde de masturbasyon boy kısalığı muhabetti benzeri. Bu cinsel deneyim ve ardından gelen felaket beklentisi kitap boyunca sürüyor, İFK başkanın başsız cesedi, telekızın evinde bulundu, Cemiyetin yeni gözdesi, yahudininkini diplerken boğuldu ve daha ne gazete başlıkları.. “AZAT EDELİM YİD’İ, GERİ VERELİM ONA İD’İ”.

Dört bir yanı tabularla çevrilmiş, yasak günah ayıp ile sınırı çizilmiş hayatında ilk yasağı çiğnemek karakterimizin id ile süperego arasındaki gel gitli ilişkiyi bir üst boyuta çıkartır, bu bölümün öncesinde “Yahudi Yahudi Yahudi ! Kusacağım artık acı ceken Yahudilerin destanından. Hadi bana bir iyilik edin, canımdan aziz halkım ve acılarla dolu mirasınızı acılarla dolu götünüze sokun “ diyerek özgürleşme pratiğinin kökenlerine dair ipuçlarıda vermektedir. Bireyin arzusu ile barışması, olduğu her neyse ona sahip çıkması üst anlatıyı boşa düşürmekle mümkündür( bu kitabın yasaklanması için bir neden daha) ancak bu atarlanmakla olacak iş değil maalesef ki Portnoy bu kimliğe ve baskılanmasına tekrar tekrar dönecektir.Kitap boyunca dikkat çeken bir hususda öteki olmak. Portnoy için en baştan yasaklanmış anglo sakson dünyası bir vahayı temsil etmekte o beyazlar dünyasından kaldıracağı beyaz kadınlar için o lanet Yahudi burnu olmasa neler yapacaktır kim bilir. Özelikle kaykay bölümünde beyaz kızlara yaklaşmak için kurduğu hayaller bana Fanon’un Siyah Deri Beyaz Maskeler kitabını hatırlattı. Arada bu kitabı da önermiş olayım.

Kitabın önemli karakterlerinden biri de Maymun lakaplı manken kızımız. Portnoy arzuladığı bütün fantezilere maymun ile ulaşırken bile “ eksik bir şey” kalır geride. Daha en baştan arzusu sakatlanan ve bunu makulleştirmek için bahaneler arayan karakter saf arzusu ile yüzleşince gerisin geri süperegosuna sığınır ve bunun için elinde güçlü doneler var, kız saf cehalet mirim, New York Belediyesinin parlayan yıldızı bu cehaletle tatmin olacak diye kendini daha ne kadar küçültebilir. Kişinin arzusundan kaçmak için sığınacağı binbir bahane vardır ve halk arasında buna yemedi denir. Neyse ağzımı bozmadan devam edeyim ve sonlara geleyim.

Maymun’un maymun ettiği sevgili Portnoy’umuz soluğu vaat edilmiş topraklarda alır ancak bölümün başlığı sürgündür. O Yahudi çocuk en sonunda öteki olmadığı, herkesin ona benzediği kardeş topraklardadır ancak vaat edilmiş topraklarda da işler yolunda gitmez. O azgın teke İsrail sınırları içinde kaldıramaz, bundan iyi sembolizm mi olur ! . Çünkü ensest büyük bir günahtır ve kimse annesinin kutsal toprağında kaldıramaz. Maymun ile sabahlara kadar üçlü yapar ama İsrail’de en fazla hayırlı bir kısmet buluruz.

Aslında dün kitap kulübünde tartışırken dört yıldız veririm diye düşünüyordum hatta yazının başına geçerken de aynı fikirdeydim ama sanırım konuştukça kendimi gaza getirdim ve edebi yetkinliği bir yana bu açık sözlülüğe beş yıldız vermeden edemedim.

Son olarak; bu kitabı okumak isteyen ya da okuyup Portnoy’a kızan köpüren ya da halden anlayan okur, Horatius’un Antik yunan’da Marx’ın Kapital’in Almanca baskısının önsözünde dediği gibi De Tabula Fabura Narratur.. ...more

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Sep 11, 2018 David Schaafsma rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiction-20th-century, roth

'Enough being a nice Jewish boy. . . Let’s put the id back in yid.” Alex Portnoy

Portnoy's Complaint: "A disorder in which strongly felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature."

I have had a couple intense years of reading Roth, rereading some, but mostly reading much I had not read. Recently Roth died, RIP, and then I read his last four short books, and decided to come full circle back to my (I think it was) first and possi 'Enough being a nice Jewish boy. . . Let’s put the id back in yid.” Alex Portnoy

Portnoy's Complaint: "A disorder in which strongly felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature."

I have had a couple intense years of reading Roth, rereading some, but mostly reading much I had not read. Recently Roth died, RIP, and then I read his last four short books, and decided to come full circle back to my (I think it was) first and possibly the most read of his books, Portnoy’s Complaint, which reads almost as if it were a joyous comic farce. As with many other of his books, it begins with a male boy character, Alex, who struggles mightily with his Jewish Newark parents. Roth, as with most of his other books, does not hide his character’s sexual life; instead he celebrates (and then analyzes, and sometimes problematizes) it in all its Rabelaisian glory.

Portnoy’s Complaint is sort of known as the Great American Novel of Teenaged Masturbation. In this book, Alex Portnoy is not at 14 having sex, but he calls himself “the Raskolnikov of jerking off,” and this is how the book comically opens, focusing on this. There is, later, a lot of sex in the book, usually humorously--and for the time, but probably still now, for many, shockingly—explicit and what people used to call “foul-mouthed,” but it is clear his more serious subject is what it means to be Jewish in America; he satirizes his fellow Jews sometimes brutally. The sex-obsessed Alexander Portnoy is in this tale confessing to his analyst; he is trying to figure out how to be Jewish (or not) in America, exploring these issues through the various women--Jews, gentiles--he is with. The joy of sex, the joys and madness of Jewish life, and atheism, all three topics are persistent themes in Roth across most of his work, here from the very first.

It is 1969, and Portnoy’s Complaint emerges after 2-3 fairly tame books from Roth (in comparison, on the explicitness scale) that build his literary reputation, and then this famously “dirty book” explodes (pun intended, sorry) on to the literary scene that gets him denounced by Jewish leaders and becomes an instant bestseller and critical smash. The world or at least America is going through a sexual revolution: Freedom, man, stop getting hung up on all this religious repression and just Let Go. Love the one you’re with! Alex was a top student, and is, at 33, a good liberal, working for Mayor John Lindsay, but is still lost, personally. He struggles: How can such a good boy like me be so bad?!

The book tacks back and forth between Alex the masturbator at 14 and Alex the sadly, madly lost sexual libertine at 33, a case of arrested development, one of many many Roth books that would seem to take a look at sex and mortality and cultural identity. To be sexual is for Roth (or is it just many of his main male characters?) to be fully alive – while to have that denied is a form of living death. But through it all Alex obsesses about what is to be Jewish, and an atheist, in America.

The book begins with a funny look at Alex’s upbringing by a set of neurotic Jewish parents—domineering mother Sophie, nebbish father—where the only thing he seems to have control over is his penis. Fast forward to age 33 where he is alone, childless, serial dating various goyish blond women. He seems to want to rid himself of his Jewish identity! But then, in Davenport, Iowa, he discovers his discomfort with Midwestern Christian America, too, as he visits his girlfriend’s family over the holidays. He doesn't want that life, either. And later in the book he pursues an Israeli Jew; will it be better in Israel, with a “real Jew”? It’s like a dialectical narrative, going back in forth between being anguished over his cultural background, not wanting to be a traditional Jew, and not wanting to be mistreated as a Jew. But remember, this is—like Salinger’s Catcher—a therapy session, so we are not supposed to see this solely as an affirmation of Alex. Alex is sex crazy, at 33, and all around pretty crazy.

Portnoy’s Complaint I thought was still very funny, in my second reading of it decades later, though it may have been knocked down a peg from my list of Roth’s absolute greats such as the American trilogy (though still in the top seven or eight), but it is a manic, often hilarious, sometimes tiring series of rants (interspersed with comic Yiddishisms), a monologue, a confession from a seemingly arrogant, sometimes clearly self-deprecating, lost soul, creating one of the great literary characters of the twentieth century, still a source of shock and outrage and humor; still a “dirty book” and very much a literary accomplishment. ...more

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Sep 16, 2009 Daniel rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2009, glendale-library-store, re-read

I have a vague memory that when I first read "Portnoy's Complaint" as a teenager -- I was probably 16 or 17 at the time -- I either carried my paperback copy with me to my grandmother's condo, or perhaps just mentioned to her that I was reading the book. What a mistake. She was displeased with my choice in reading material, and wasn't shy about letting me know. This was many years before Philip Roth won the Pulitzer Prize, making him somewhat more respectable to the American Jewish community. To I have a vague memory that when I first read "Portnoy's Complaint" as a teenager -- I was probably 16 or 17 at the time -- I either carried my paperback copy with me to my grandmother's condo, or perhaps just mentioned to her that I was reading the book. What a mistake. She was displeased with my choice in reading material, and wasn't shy about letting me know. This was many years before Philip Roth won the Pulitzer Prize, making him somewhat more respectable to the American Jewish community. To be frank, though, even if he had already won the Pulitzer at that time, Grammy likely still would have seen "Portnoy's Complaint," and probably anything else by Roth, as a shanda fur die goyim and best avoided by her grandson. As an already somewhat lapsed Jew at the time, though, I found the novel hilarious, shocking and frighteningly accurate, if a bit exaggerated.

At more than double the age I was then, I decided to revisit "Portnoy's Complaint" for the first time, partly because I want to see if it's held up for me after all these years, and partly to see how it compares to the handful of other Roth novels I've read in recent years, including "The Anatomy Lesson" and "The Plot Against America." So what did I find? As an older and now completely lapsed Jew, I found "Portnoy's Complaint" hilarious, shocking and frighteningly accurate, if a bit exaggerated. It also stands heads and shoulders above the other Roth novels I've read. As far as I can tell, there's "Portnoy's Complaint," and then there's everything else he's written.

I won't bother saying much about the book's content here because either you've already read it don't need to be told about it, or you should read the book, and I don't want to ruin it for you by recounting the best parts. (Frankly, the whole book's great, and singling out the best parts would be a pretty daunting task.) But I do have one caveat: I'm not sure how well this book would resonate with anyone who didn't grow up as a male in a Jewish family in America. I'm not saying other people shouldn't read this book -- they should -- but I am saying that much of both its comedy and its meaningfulness likely will be lost on all readers who aren't male American Jews. As just one small example, only such a reader could truly appreciate the brilliance of a suicide note, from a son to his mother, mentioned in passing:

Mrs. Blumenthal called. Please bring your mah-jongg rules to the game tonight. Ronald

"Portnoy's Complain" is chock-full of profanity (including judicious use of the dreaded c-word), sexual depravity (and not just the famous meat scene), and ethnic stereotypes (including a hilarious depiction of the home life of WASPs). I've seen some people criticize this book for being too much of a comedy, too prone to Borscht Belt-style humor. Well, yes, but so what? The book is intended as a comedy, and the entire novel even ends with a punchline -- and not just any punchline, but a punchline that wouldn't be out of place on a Catskills stage.

Anyhow, there's no need for me to say much more about "Portnoy's Complaint." Plus, I have an easier time writing lengthy reviews of books I hate than ones I love wholeheartedly. Much like Alexander Portnoy, I'm not very good at being positive and upbeat. I'm just glad that the book held up as well as it did for me after all these years.

Sorry, Grammy. ...more

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Jan 01, 2017 Robin rated it liked it

Shelves: 2016, literary-fiction, american

The title is apt for this book, because the entire thing is a complaint, made by Alexander Portnoy to his shrink. Oh, boy.

Initially I put this on my TBR list because Joe Goldberg, the well-read psychopath in Caroline Kepnes' You and Hidden Bodies lists it as his favourite book. A bit of a twisted road to get to Philip Roth's infamous, sexually explicit work that caused a big splash when published in 1969.

While cleverly written and quite funny in some parts, the rant-like nature of this book got ...more

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May 27, 2018 Deniz Balcı rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: amerikan-edebiyat, favoriler, dq

Yorumumu daha sonra gireceğim.

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Jun 13, 2018 zumurruddu rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nord-america

Il mare impetuoso al tramonto…(*)

Esilarante, caustico, irriverente. Che altro dire?
Che ogni volta che leggo questo autore rimango incantata dalla vividezza, dalla potenza con cui le persone (nemmeno i personaggi) saltano fuori dalle pagine, e si muovono e parlano e agiscono, veri, nitidi, naturali. E la scrittura accattivante, scoppiettante, che non perde un colpo.
E non ho potuto non provare partecipazione e tenerezza per Alex Portnoy, per le sue ossessioni e i suoi sensi di colpa. Il senso di c ...more

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Dec 29, 2013 Jr Bacdayan rated it liked it

Hey, Roth! What’s with the smug smile on that face of yours? What’s with that satisfied look? You think you’re now a goy or something? Are you thinking of a shikse or something? Are you high? You think just because you wrote a bunch of anti-semitic, auto-erotic stuff you’re some bigshot? What’s the sense with that piece of crap? Don’t you dare turn your back on me you balding Kike! You wanker! You kosher prick! You… oh, where’s the sense in this? Come on, mate. Is this really just to ridicule so Hey, Roth! What’s with the smug smile on that face of yours? What’s with that satisfied look? You think you’re now a goy or something? Are you thinking of a shikse or something? Are you high? You think just because you wrote a bunch of anti-semitic, auto-erotic stuff you’re some bigshot? What’s the sense with that piece of crap? Don’t you dare turn your back on me you balding Kike! You wanker! You kosher prick! You… oh, where’s the sense in this? Come on, mate. Is this really just to ridicule society? What’s the gist, the point, the essence? To say things which nobody has said before? Is it just anger, contempt? Sure, I get the whole defy the boundaries of society thing, to be rid of the cultural standards and stuff. Freedom from the restrictive paradigm! I get it, I do. Fuck society. Fuck culture, marriage, family, democracy, capitalism, sexual-restraint. Fuck them all! But is it just that? Why go through all the girlfriends? I bet that’s boasting there, Philip. Just because you had cunt doesn’t mean we wanna hear about it. All you did was give me a boner in some parts. That wasn’t a very nice thing to do given all the whining coming with it. You’re an asshole, Roth! You’re worse. You’re thinking of doing perverse stuff to your own Mother! That’s going beyond the oedipal tendencies, bud. Are you suggesting that we should practice incest because fuck the society? Incest because fuck the law? You motherfucker! That’s gross, man. Is that the point? What about all that wanking? Is is just to make me wanna wank myself? Well, you succeeded mate. I may have wanked somewhere in between reading your book. Satisfied, Roth? You corrupted a youth. If someone catches me doing the deed, Imma tell them I learned it from the venerated Philip Roth. But I’m telling you, you didn’t succeed with that whole incest thing. You stay out of my family! And really the liver? You thought up that it should be fed to a family? I bet you did that in real life. What is this semi-autobiographical? Because I’m telling ya, some things here were a little too graphic to be made up. Come on, bud. Say it. I did all this when I was younger. There’s a good boy. So you just wanted to share life experiences, eh? No? Then what is it? Ah, I think I’ve got it. Now, Phil. Mind if I call you Phil? So is this really just another Catcher in the Rye, except you know, you have crazy substituting the teenage angst here. Is it really just I’m too good for you stuff? Just another anarchy dude, another all that “my life, my rules” crap. The world’s your oyster kid. Joke’s on you, it’s not. What’s with all the sexual stuff? To prove that sex is a natural instinct and shouldn’t be so shameful? Sure, that’s pretty good. But is that all? Defy life, sex is normal. Is that it? Bullshit, Phil! You may be a chronic-wanker, but you’re not stupid enough to write a book about this stuff. This is all movie crap. This is the bread and butter of scriptwriters, not novelists. You’ve got more pride than that. You’ve won a Pulitzer for cryin out loud! Why write this? What are you trying to tell me? Why all the babble! Are you a Nazi? Are you trying to justify the holocaust? What is with this book? Is it to make me be a better man? Is it supposed to show the inadequacies of my complaints, the shallowness of it all? Are you using reverse psychology?! It won’t work, boyo. We gentiles are a smarter breed than you give us credit for. You cunt! You sexist, racist, homophobic son of a woman. Are you trying to show us the thoughts of the superior Caucasian man? Hehe! Now I’m the racist one. Sorry, Phil. Didn’t mean to hurt ya there. But I’m still stumped here. What’s the big picture? What’s it saying to me? Libido is libertarian? I guess I can work with that. Hahaha! Wait, humor won’t work here, Phil. You wrote and book and I read it. You have to answer me here. No, you don’t have the right to remain silent. No, you can’t invoke your right to self-incrimination. Say it! Open up! Spill the beans! Let the cat out of the bag! Try to see the big picture, you say? Ah! I see! It’s in the punch-line! What, no comment? So it’s about the doctor. I get it now, sonny. You thought that you freed yourself from the chains of society. You broke everything, you howled! You didn’t give a crap about anything. Heck, you even tore the tag off the mattress! But really, you weren’t freed. The fact that you were talking to a shrink proved that you thought something was wrong with you. You say you didn’t give a shit, but you put yourself under observation. You say you lived big, but you confined yourself with a mental-health professional. You were under invisible chains, your freedom was an illusion. Why the silence now, Phil? Say something. What? I’m confusing you with Portnoy? But you wrote it, mate. Doesn’t that sort of identify you with the protagonist? What? I’m an asshole? Alright, whatever. You’re the man. I’m just saying, freedom from societal-norms is an illusion. Sometimes, all we can do is complain. Am I right, Phil? ...more

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Jul 23, 2016 Lubinka Dimitrova rated it really liked it

Shelves: are-you-serious, audio, funny, general-fiction, green-monster-of-jealousy, male-author, me-myself-and-i, modern-classics, not-my-cup-of-tea, pointless

Although I definitely enjoyed it more than Bukowski's Women, I've come to realise that books about middle-aged male Americans who spend their time navel-gazing and contemplating their relationship with their penis is probably not my cup of tea. The book was fun, but I strongly suspect that if it weren't for the narrator, I might have never finished it. Ron Silver is a brilliant reader, I doubt that I would have enjoyed the story more even if Roth himself was whispering it in my ear.

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Dec 15, 2014 Cosimo rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Non è un problema mio

“Con una vita come la mia, Dottore, mi vuol dire a cosa mi servono i sogni?”

Che cosa mi definisce come essere umano, in prima istanza? La voglia di vivere e di essere libero, sembra affermare Alexander Portnoy, aspirazione che si esprime prevalentemente nell'ambiente creato dal dialogo tra caratteristiche sociali e familiari e desideri e qualità individuali: in questo caso, sessualità, ebraismo, società borghese e intellettualismo. E così la scrittura, sotto forma di monolog Non è un problema mio

“Con una vita come la mia, Dottore, mi vuol dire a cosa mi servono i sogni?”

Che cosa mi definisce come essere umano, in prima istanza? La voglia di vivere e di essere libero, sembra affermare Alexander Portnoy, aspirazione che si esprime prevalentemente nell'ambiente creato dal dialogo tra caratteristiche sociali e familiari e desideri e qualità individuali: in questo caso, sessualità, ebraismo, società borghese e intellettualismo. E così la scrittura, sotto forma di monologo psicoanalitico, diventa un flusso che è metafora della vita, dell'atto sessuale come liberazione di energia, dell'affermazione professionale come prova della potenza virile, del sarcasmo verso l'altro e del solipsismo come difesa da narcisismo e disprezzo di sé. “Che cosa è avvenuto del buon senso che avevo a nove, dieci, undici anni? Come ho fatto a diventare un tale nemico e fustigatore di me stesso? E così solo! Oh, così solo! Nient'altro che il sé! Rinchiuso in me stesso! Quali sono le parole che sceglie Portnoy per salvarsi da questo isolamento forzato, quale teatro inscena per rappresentare la sua emancipazione dalla schiavitù dell'impotenza? Meshuggener inguaribile, uomo di successo e di cultura, ha in mente il solo obiettivo di vivere alla grande e inseguire, tra baseball e erotismo, ogni shikse che gli introduca le sue grazie e accolga la sua insaziabile fame di femmina, in una fantasmagoria della fica, la passera, dove la donna è soggetto di fantasie, il corpo femminile oggetto di amore e odio, venerazione e maledizione, dipendenza e estasi: Portnoy è un essere in balia di libido e pulsioni, tutte dirette alla femminilità, al sesso femminile, in una mitologia orgiastica dove lo shlong, il putz, l'organo maschile, è mediatore e totem di un incontro che si fa parodia linguistica della psicologia freudiana e del dispotismo della tradizione tout court. Tra farsa e tragedia edipica, Portnoy si rivela a seconda dei momenti infante sperduto con la nostalgia della madre che lo minaccia di evirazione con il coltello di cucina, giovane maschio che vede l'erezione come stato di divina prigionia e diviene soggetto di necessaria educazione all'onanismo sfrenato, uomo adulto virile e dominante che innalza contro la repressione puritana l'idolo del proibito, scelta negativa che conduce a una morale pansessuale e edonistica. Nella sua cronica insoddisfazione, nei suoi insuccessi iterati, Portnoy pensa se stesso come un mentecatto con una sofferenza significante e dignitosa, un ebreo infelice che disprezza se stesso, dove l'esagerazione viene eletta a stile esistenziale. Ogni confine è pregiudizio, la vita è desiderio illimitato, la relazione un dispiegamento narcisistico: la scrittura è luogo dove può prendere forma un rovesciamento anarchico del reale, evitando la negazione e superando nella dissolutezza la paura di crescere in un delirio dionisiaco connotato da oralità dissacrante e invettiva al turpiloquio. “Il succo del mio ragionamento, Dottore, è che non mi par tanto di ficcare il mio uccello in queste ragazze, quanto di ficcarlo nei loro ambienti sociali... come se scopando volessi scoprire l'America. Conquistare l'America, è forse più corretto”. Il piacere dei sensi è antidoto al soffocare angoscioso del quotidiano e l'irripetibilità dell'esperienza sessuale acquisisce una funzione liberatoria e rituale, nel trionfo di una ironia antivitalistica. Il Lamento di Portnoy è un romanzo confessione pieno di comicità viscerale, con un eroe americano ibrido e privo di certezze, irregolare e asociale anche nel successo, in un racconto satirico che è più complesso e versatile di come appaia; genera il riso e la catarsi, tratta di colpa e trasgressione, risolve su differenti piani il conflitto tra coscienza e istinto, suggerendo nell'impossibile e disastrosa ricerca dell'altro l'esistere di un valore vitale e doloroso che può restituire almeno parzialmente il senso della propria pienezza. Nello scandalo appassionato e nell'intenso pathos, un curioso e mai rassegnato interrogare.

“Dottore, forse altri suoi pazienti sognano – ma io, guardi, a me le cose succedono per davvero, tutte. Io ho una vita priva di contenuto latente. A me i sogni mi succedono! Dottore, non m'è riuscito di rizzarlo nello Stato di Israele! Beh, che gliene pare di questo come simbolismo, bubi? Mi indichi Lei qualcuno che sa fare di meglio, eh? Uno che non riesce a mantenere una erezione nella terra Promessa!” ...more

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May 10, 2018 Özgür rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: don-quixote-k-k

Elbette bir şeyler yazarım gibi.. Birkaç bileni ve daha iyi okuduğuna inandıklarımı dinleyip bu yarım bırakılmış satırlara devam edeceğim. Sanırım..

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Nov 20, 2010 Mariel rated it really liked it

Recommends it for: constipated older Jewish men

Recommended to Mariel by: masterbators

I would have walked away in the conversation at the point of Portnoy proclaiming that he slept with the women that he did (anyone who would have him) as a way of conquering America. Essentially those who would not have him like historically against Jewish peoples (dude, you work for the mayor and are educated! You do what you want!). I am not Jewish and I wasn't alive in the '60s. Somewhere anyone is going to feel like that they don't belong. What I really liked about Portnoy's Complaint is the I would have walked away in the conversation at the point of Portnoy proclaiming that he slept with the women that he did (anyone who would have him) as a way of conquering America. Essentially those who would not have him like historically against Jewish peoples (dude, you work for the mayor and are educated! You do what you want!). I am not Jewish and I wasn't alive in the '60s. Somewhere anyone is going to feel like that they don't belong. What I really liked about Portnoy's Complaint is the not fitting in the anyone should feel that way. You don't have to feel like you owe your family. How someone else feels about you is a lot about them. A lot of talking oneself into it doesn't hurt, I won't regret it later, what is the right thing to do. Sex as sex, not the whole damned future. You can live for the now and then still regret the past when the next now comes up. Or be afraid you are going to regret it. That can be anxiety inducing enough on its own.
(If the book had been written a couple of decades later there would be worse things than disappointing your parents with no grandchildren.)

The good thing about this book is that it is not easy to say for sure and pin Alexander Portnoy to one thing. Oh yeah, he felt sorry for himself, hemmed in and restrained. Unsatisfied always. He succumbed to worrying about what he should feel as much anyone else. He did believe that he was better than the Monkey (I liked the Monkey. If she became "clingy" and hoped for a new life outta Portnoy... Well, he might be her some day. Left alone out of years of pleasing only himself. Monkey chose her sexual freedom and later discovered the tragedy of shame. I wish she didn't have to feel shame! She could have been him before when younger. It's not fair thirty for her was old. He was 33!). The conquering getting back at them bullshit was boring and backtracking on the good stuff. The freedom with a price came to a conversational death by boring and big fat lie. It doesn't mean there wasn't anything else in there. I was just bored when it became about BEING Jewish instead of being any man. Besides, it doesn't feel like the truth! If you are going to be your own person, what does being Jewish have to do with the picture? Especially since you aren't religious, Portnoy?
It was too good before. Me against them instead of Me I wish it didn't have to be against anyone. Sighs That would be soemthing that would mean something to me (wishing) instead of a funny story about a guy who can talk circles around what he really wants. He did talk circles. I liked how he slipped up and was confused about his omnipresent mama, to side with dad or not (were they the same or not?), his sensible and taken for granted sister. The possibility of shame and dirty by what is alone. Aha! Is it not alone to group in with a label? I don't think so...

P.s. I can't find on youtube the scene on The Simpsons when Krusty the Clown pretends to have diarhea to practice his comedy routines in the bathroom. Portnoy homage! I remember the scene but I didn't get the reference when I'd seen it. :( ...more

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Mar 16, 2009 Evan rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: modern-library-top-100-list, my-faves, 2009-reads, tami-tomes, deliciously-nasty, __in-my-collection, sexuality, yearning, roth, jewish

I'm in the mood for this now and it's reading like a breeze. God, it's probably shameful to admit that I AM PORTNOY, but it would be just like me to say that very thing and mirror the guilt of the guy in the book. You wish your parents could read this, especially my neat freak, worrywart mom. I think a lot of Catholic households and Jewish households are not a lot different. This shit is funny and real and insightful. If the rest of the book is as good as the first 50 pages then we shall be quit I'm in the mood for this now and it's reading like a breeze. God, it's probably shameful to admit that I AM PORTNOY, but it would be just like me to say that very thing and mirror the guilt of the guy in the book. You wish your parents could read this, especially my neat freak, worrywart mom. I think a lot of Catholic households and Jewish households are not a lot different. This shit is funny and real and insightful. If the rest of the book is as good as the first 50 pages then we shall be quite pleased.

(Yes. I'm reading the old yellow paperback edition. $1 from Half Price.)

Getting close to a third of the way in...What is it Dali said: "Stop stealing my dreams?" I say to Roth: "You've stolen my life, the angst in my head." I'm sort of in a mindmeld with this book. The conflicting feelings over one's parents, the tugs of opposing impulses: to respect and abhor, to compromise and rebel. This book is making me appreciate the efforts of my own mother more, whereas lately I've been inclined to overemphasize her faults; the deficiencies passed from her to me. Many lovely ruminations, not just masturbation... Reading transfixed.

I'm officially in awe of Roth, and the achievement of this book. Just surpassed the two-third mark in the evening after beginning this yesterday evening. The conflicts between outward respectability and inner desires; the baggage of youth; the rebellion against morality and tradition; the inner conflict (stated ostensibly as a therapy session); the anxiety and humiliation -- the insecurity of being the outsider, and of fighting against your own minority status; the grotesque beauty and brutality; the longing, the confusion, the pettiness, and the self-awareness thereof; the conflict of living two sets of values... This ALL SPEAKS to me. Roth is so focused, yet so diffuse. Every word of this is wise and sad and raw and real. This is referred to as a comic novel, but while there are laughs there's much more poignancy, for me. I just dig the shit out of this book. I mean, so much so that it might now be my favorite novel ever. But let's not get too hasty. Still going...

OK, well, this had everything for me. EVERYTHING! (and a lot of exclamation points just like that one). This is now, officially, my favorite book. ...more

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May 21, 2018 Sinem A. rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: insanlık-denen-trajikomedi

normal olmakla olmamak arasında kafamızda bir yerde çok ince bir çizgi var sanırım. çocukluk travmaları genetik gibi şok gibi farklı durumlarla karşılaşınca o ince çizgi bir anda yok olabiliyor galiba.
o ince çizginin kalktığı hikayeler ilgimi hep çekmiştir. insana dair hazine değerindeki detayların birazda orada bir yerlerde saklandığını düşünürüm hep.
bir de hiç yaşayamayacağım bir tecrübe olarak karşı cinsin deneyimlerini okumak güzel bir tecrübeydi.
Philip Roth un daha önce Hayalet Yazar ıno ok ...more

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Sep 08, 2012 MJ Nicholls rated it it was amazing

Shelves: novels, merkins

The definitive self-hating Jew novel. A searing literary stand-up performance par excellence. Woody Allen meets Bill Hicks. Explains where the famous inbuilt neurosis in New York Jews comes from. A brutal, universal portrayal of family life. The funniest thing I have read in a long long time. Every young man in his twenties tries at some point to write this novel and fails. Wonderful. Not a work of remarkable human insight and depth, but this is Philip Roth: the psychopathology of sleaze, if you ...more

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May 07, 2008 Yulia rated it it was ok

Shelves: i-thought-i-hated-you

It's a miracle: I've finished this thing, this book. I thought to read the end as a commenter noted it was a shaggy dog story, which made me wonder what the punch-line was, but as I read about this woman he called "the monkey," I became so furious in how he wrote of her with such hatred that I had to know more about their relationship, which took me back another section, and then another, till I'd finally been led to read the entire dang book.

And while I was sure I'd write something hateful abo It's a miracle: I've finished this thing, this book. I thought to read the end as a commenter noted it was a shaggy dog story, which made me wonder what the punch-line was, but as I read about this woman he called "the monkey," I became so furious in how he wrote of her with such hatred that I had to know more about their relationship, which took me back another section, and then another, till I'd finally been led to read the entire dang book.

And while I was sure I'd write something hateful about Roth after first learning of his attitude towards the Monkey, leading me to foam at the mouth in outrage and plan to write up a summation of the evidence proving Portnoy's homosexuality, I've since not changed my mind about Portnoy, but come to see some humor in some of the events he relates, and so I can say it was worth reading this book if only for the passages on the perfect child and pianist Ronald Nimkin (p. 96), for which I give Roth kudos by enabling me to laugh about a suicide of all tragedies, and for the passage in which the Monkey accuses Portnoy of making her a lesbian by their fulfilling their mutual fantasy of sleeping with another woman. And so for these two wonderful moments, I give Portnoy two stars.

But then, I disagree that all this had to offer was a shaggy dog ending. As a shaggy dog story, this was a rather lame one. Really, what I would have loved would be to have it be told from the Monkey's perspective. She is the true star of this tale. She is the one whose adventures and neuroses I want to follow. But I could never expect Roth to pull this off successfully considering his great antipathy for womankind.

****************************************************************

(done at page 64) OK, I'm sick of Portnoy. I don't care about his testicles, I don't care where and how he masturbates, I don't care whom he thinks of to get off, I don't care that he doesn't believe in god, I don't care what will happen to his nagging mother, weak father, and pleading sister. I don't wish them ill: I simply don't care about them. May they rest in peace. Don't worry, I own the book. Maybe one day when I'm absolutely desperate to consider Roth's endless merits, I'll pick up where I left off and annoy myself some more. ...more

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Dec 27, 2014 Paolo rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Ma di che ti lamenti Alex Portnoy ?

Scusa, sei l'erede prediletto di una famiglia normale che riversa su di te la quasi totalità dell'affetto, delle attenzioni e delle aspettative. Una famiglia che gode di un moderato benessere e non sperimenta lutti prematuri.

Appartieni al popolo che l'Onnipotente ha designato come eletto fra tutti.

Popolo eletto che, in verità, ha passato le sue, senonché i tuoi lungimiranti nonni hanno pensato bene di emigrare da qualche pulcioso shtetl dell'Europa orientale, r ...more

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Dec 20, 2016 Adriana rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ale-mele-citite

Cartea asta e atât de viscerală, încât nu-mi vine să cred că nu e autobiografică, cel puţin partea care se referă la familie, originile evreieşti şi toate neajunsurile care derivă din asta. Pentru că, dacă e să-l credem pe autor, e naşpa rău să fii evreu în SUA, şi de aici s-au născut multe-multe pagini furibunde în care personajul principal îşi spune, îşi strigă, ÎŞI URLĂ frustrările.

Cât despre viaţa sexuală a aceluiaşi personaj, mi-a stârnit hohote de râs (cine naiba s-ar gândi să facă sex cu ...more

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Jun 06, 2013 Giuseppe rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1960-s, literature-american, challenge-esimio-sconosciuto, genre-comedy, genre-psychological

Roth sei tutti noi (me)

Un lungo monologo di un giovane ebreo newyorchese, alla fine degli sessanta, steso su un lettino di un psicoanalista mentre si lamenta della scombinatezza della propria vita dominata dalle figure genitoriali e da una totale anaffetività che si sublima in una bramosia sessuale infinita. Di questo parla Lamento di Portnoy.

Se avete la (s)fortuna di provenire da una società tradizionalista, con una forte impronta familistica, se avete la (s)fortuna di avere avuto dei genitori Roth sei tutti noi (me)

Un lungo monologo di un giovane ebreo newyorchese, alla fine degli sessanta, steso su un lettino di un psicoanalista mentre si lamenta della scombinatezza della propria vita dominata dalle figure genitoriali e da una totale anaffetività che si sublima in una bramosia sessuale infinita. Di questo parla Lamento di Portnoy.

Se avete la (s)fortuna di provenire da una società tradizionalista, con una forte impronta familistica, se avete la (s)fortuna di avere avuto dei genitori apprensivi, una madre affettuosa ma soffocante ed autoritaria, se avete la (s)fortuna di essere un uomo in tale società, se da voi ci si aspetta tanto (troppo), ebbene non vi servirà molto per capire questo libro e quello che dice.

Da bravo meridionale emigrato soddisfo molte delle condizioni suddette. Così non ho fatto alcuna fatica a immedesimarmi nel libro e rivedermi nella figura di Alexander Portnoy (ad onor del vero ci rivedo più mio fratello maggiore, mi ha salvato l'essere terzogenito: sono cresciuto più capafrésca avendo subito meno attenzioni, quindi con meno interesse intorno e meno aspettative). Dalle figure genitoriali, alla rivalsa sessuale (la mappa mentale degli USA da colonizzare stato per stato non è troppo dissimile da quella dell'Europa che avevo in mente nei primi del 2000), passando per il disagio delle proprie origini che si converte in motivo di superiorità in un ambiente esterno (studiatevi la categoria dei terroni fuggiaschi per capire cosa intendo), il malcelato amore per la propria cucina, l'affermazione non economica ma sociale in un ruolo "giusto" e tanto tanto altro. Insomma tante, troppe cose durante la lettura mi sembravano affini o addirittura autobiografiche, tanto da chiedermi se non fossi la reincarnazione di almeno una parte dell'anima di Roth (per me il romanzo è autobiografico, ci scommetto quello che volete) posto che è ancora in vita.

Certo i distinguo non mancano. Mio padre non è stitico, né mia madre è così melodrammatica (anche se certe frasi sono in ciclostilato), e nessuno dei due può essere considerato ignorante, anzi. Né ho l'anafettività nei rapporti di coppia di Portnoy. Né tuttavia le mie origini possono essere ricondotte a popolazioni dalla leggendaria intelligenza (vi assicuro però che non sono tonto). Però, devo ammettere, nonostante Portnoy sia un po' stronzo, ipocrita, egoista non riesco proprio a non avere un moto di simpatia nei suoi confronti.

E alla fine il messaggio di Roth è chiaro, usando l'espediente psicanalitico: dalle tue origini non ti ci stacchi, che l'imprinting è qualcosa che ti porti dietro per tutta la vita e con cui ci devi convivere dovunque tu sia. Ma che non puoi nemmeno risolvere i tuoi conflitti tornando al punto di partenza, essendo questo diventato altro da te. ...more

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Nov 10, 2013 Mish rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, fiction, humour, drama, own, 1001-books-you-must-read, 1960

Portnoy’s Complaint was on my radar when I watched my first episode of the ABC The Book Club. The book was Marieke Hardy pick of a classic and it received such high praise by the whole panel, describing it as funny, awkward, rude and a work of a genius.

Portnoy’s Complaint is a one sided conversation between Alex Portnoy and his psychoanalyst, of growing up in a Jewish household with loud, workaholic and overprotective parents, his sexual awakening, his career and his failure to commit to a lasti ...more

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Aug 17, 2012 Julie rated it really liked it

Thirty years after Roth wrote Portnoy's Complaint he won the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral. The reason is. . . he knows how to write. He writes with a boldness and bravado I favor. However, this is not a book for just anyone! If my grandmother had cracked open the cover, I assure you, the paramedics would have found her dead from a stroke or heart-attack, the book still open on her chest. Portnoy's Complaint has, within its almost 300 pages, more vulgarity and profanity than any other boo ...more

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Dec 07, 2016 Julie Ehlers rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, literary-fiction

A round of applause for Portnoy’s Complaint. I can only imagine how daring and groundbreaking this book must have felt when it was first released in the late 1960s. An entire novel written as a rant to the narrator’s psychoanalyst! Imagine! And what’s more, the book manages to keep up its energy and momentum all the way through—it’s entertaining and funny, and insightful in the way only something truly groundbreaking can be. Honestly, despite all the responses and imitations this book no doubt e ...more

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Sep 17, 2015 Marcello S rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Zeno Cosini in acido.
Dissacrante, ossessivo, complesso.
Chissà come dev’essere stato leggerlo nel ’69.

Oggi è di certo meno sconvolgente sentir parlare di sesso, famiglia e tradizioni ebraiche in maniera così radicale.

Qua e là c’è qualche momento meno godibile o non del tutto riuscito.
A tratti lo segui a stento nei suoi voli pindarici.

Tutto il resto è decisamente notevole. [75/100]

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About Philip Roth

Philip Roth

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Philip Milton Roth was 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 in ...more