Portnoy's Complaint

by Philip Roth

Book Overview

The groundbreaking novel from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Pastoral that originally propelled its author to literary stardom: told in a continuous monologue from patient to psychoanalyst, this masterpiece draws us into the turbulent mind of one lust-ridden young Jewish bachelor named Alexander Portnoy.

One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years

"Deliciously funny...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0679756450
• ISBN13: 9780679756453
• Release Date: September 1994
• Publisher: Vintage
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.2" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Hats off for Phillip Roth !!!

Definitely one of the best books I've ever read... a wonderful concoction of [] intellect, humour and brilliant writing. A Jewish man sits on a psychiatrist's chair and rants...he raves and screams and howls and grumbles..... his name is Alexander Portnoy - a genius with a 158 IQ, but also a notorious sex fiend and a man obsessed with his religious background. So vividly and so viscerally does he express his mental anguish that the reader feels an adrenalin rush as they skim through the pages of the book .... I found myself whizzing through the novel and I wasn't bored for a second....anything but! I was amused, delighted, fascinated and yes, I wanted to quote just about every single sentence that came out of Portnoy's mouth....about his relationship with "The Monkey" (no, not a pet babboon, but actually the name he bestows upon one of his girlfriends...a woman on whom he exercises his more selfish and sadistic streak), about their relationship, he retorts "she puts the id back in Yid and I put the oy back in Goy"....a sentence that will hold a whole new load of meaning for those who read the book....its emphasis on the Jewish-Gentile conflict, as seen from Portnoy's obsessive-compulsive point of view, is profound. Here, I'm tempted to stress the fact that the book may appear to be nothing more than a tirade on Semitism, but actually, it is much more universal than that....it is an indictment of ALL forms of religious bigotry, as Portnoy has renounced his religion and labelled himself an atheist. It's merely a co-incidence that Portnoy happens to be Jewish. Had he hailed from a family of devout Buddhists or Christians, his wrath towards those religions would have been just as strong. There's definitely a deep-rooted atheist philosophy underlying the book....and there's also a liberal and thrilling portrayal of sex and sexual deviance.....enjoy!! From onanism to fetishism to scenes of kinky defecation (somehow reminiscent of "Tropic of Cancer"), the book is a romp...at times endearing and at times plain shocking...but always entertaining. And through all his sexual misdemeanours, one thing is a constant....Portnoy's pangs of guilt....he feels remorse and agony and experiences bouts of thinking and re-thinking over everything he does....and thats his "complaint." Don't hesitate, read this book, its AMAZING.

Still Kvetching, and Fabulous, After All These Years

Roth has developed into a writer capable, in Hemingway's parlance, of scoring a TKO on the Master himself. The late-Roth triple-header of Human Stain, American Pastoral, I Married A Communist or(even better than Communist, Sabbath's Theater) has assured him a place in history untainted by the sensationalism that accompanied Portnoy's Complaint, the book that got the public to take notice, the rabbis to denounce, and the media to enshrine Roth in fame/notoriety. Portnoy's Complaint, however, is a book with perfect pitch. The humor and volcanic energy of an Elkin is combined with sheer readibility, accessibility, and the stench of a psyche spraying the page with candor. This is a great book. Unlabored, unforgettable, and true.

I Can't Believe No One Ever Told Me About This Book

After reading PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT, I find myself scrambling to recall whether I have ever read another American novel anywhere near as hysterically funny. Maybe Tom Robbins's SKINNY LEGS AND ALL is in the same ballpark (and I've yet to read CATCH-22) but Roth simply had my head spinning while I read this book. My jaw is still on the floor, in fact.Esoterically, this book is one long rant about the joys and (more heavily) the anguishes of growing up Jewish in America in the forties and fifties. It's 1966 and successful civil servant Alexander Portnoy is on the psychiatrist's couch trying to get out all his Oedipal, inferiority, and sexual fetish complexes. That infamous masturbation scene in the movie AMERICAN PIE? A direct descendent of Mrs. Portnoy's piece of liver!More deeply, if you can stand it, this book seriously examines the struggle of growing up with smothering parents: Alex's both put him on a pedestal and criticize everything he does. He's unmarried at thirty-three in part because of all the neuroses his parents have bestowed in him--so why doesn't he get married and have children already? Alex lets us know in pornographic detail why. Speaking of pornographic detail, Alex spends plenty of time on his ultimately doomed affairs with (mostly Protestant) women. Most of his anger at growing up Jewish in a Christian-dominated society he takes out on these "shikses"--variously called Pumpkin, the Pilgrim and the Monkey--this is not a politically correct book from the feminist perspective. It does, however, raise serious questions about what it means to be a human being, as opposed to just a hyphenated-American.PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT is brash, profane and wonderful. It is certainly not for the faint-hearted or those with what were once considered "polite sensibilities." But it is a very moral book in it's own way. Portnoy knows he's no hero, and Roth doesn't portray him as such--in some ways the book is one big joke. Every effective joke has its kernel of truth; Roth's have the whole can of corn.I never expected a novel that is one long rant to inspire a review that is one long rave, but there it is.

Biting and lewd, yet unquestionably brilliant.

I had heard that Roth's prose often reminds readers of JD Salinger, and that Portnoy is merely a Jewish version of Catcher in the Rye. Well...yes and no. In Portnoy, Roth explores the similar themes of adolescenct alienation, self-doubt and loathing, and social displacement which Salinger also regards. Yet Roth does so much more in this ranting and irrefutably hysterical portrait of the American Jew as a young man. Lewd, crude, and achingly funny, this book demonstrates what Jewishness, and the Jewish experience, is like for so many boomer generation males in this country. Portnoy's struggles with his demanding family ("Why can't you stop being so selfish and give us some grandchildren" - remarks his mother), his self-loathing resulting from being unable to derive satisfaction from anything other than emotionless sex, and his overpowering anger at being helpless to change any aspect of his life as it barrels forward, are what makes this novel a must read.

Growing up with self-abuse: the life of Alexander Portnoy

Philip Roth has written a darkly bitter and comical book, focusing on the life, from birth to the beginnigs of middle age, of Alexander Portnoy and his grievances that stem from the combination of his insatiable sexual need with his rigid Jewish upbringing. In the form of a single monologue, Roth examines the psychological problems that arise from this mixture, resulting in a poignant and humourous book that is relevant to all