Portnoy's Complaint
by Philip Roth · first published 1969
7mentions
0recommended by
7HN commenters
2016–2025first – last mentioned
86% neutral14% critical
Though is caused outrage and controversy at the time of its publication Roth’s comic novel of sexual obsession and frustration is now widely regarded as one of the best novels of the twentieth century.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
…some of the mainstays of his writing. You might enjoy Zuckerman Unbound as a novella (or is it a novel) about celebrity and identity, and I suppose reflecting his experience of the effects of publishing Portnoy's Complaint.
on “Philip Roth has died” ↗…multiple 'clandestine' copies turning up in the school playground with us boys huddled in small groups reading the 'naughty' parts. Several years later a similar controversy erupted over Philip Roth' Portnoy's Complaint, and even later I came across that strange and most peculiar of works W.S. Burroughs' Naked Lunch at a secondhand book sale which shocked even my somewhat blunt sensibilities (its controversy was somewhat…
on “Roald Dahl ebooks remotely updated to censored versions after purchase” ↗…writer in terms of entries for best 100 novels of the 20th century (I don't remember who published the list, but it was something pretty credible, and he had 6 entries on there IIRC). I started with Portnoy's Complaint and enjoyed it, but I wasn't blown away or anything. More recently I've been reading a novelette + 5 short stories in a single volume (named after the novelette) titled, "Goodbye, Columbus"—and I've been…
on “Philip Roth has died” ↗There is a scene in Peter F. Hamilton's SF novel "Fallen Dragon" which immediately made me remember the restaurant "joke" from "Portnoy's Complaint". SPOILER Only here, the protagonist vomits violently after learning he's been treated (by his weirdo girlfriend) to some actual real meat from, yuck... a killed animal... not your regular vat-grown…
on “Philip Roth has died” ↗I remember reading about a third of "Portnoy's Complaint" and then closing the book and putting it aside forever when I realized that it was supposed to be comedy and not tragedy. Same thing happened with this article.
on “This Is Your Life in Silicon Valley” ↗Don't have to go back that far :) - the author mentions Portnoy's Complaint (1969) which contains the big sight gags for the raunchy comedies Something About Mary(1998) and American Pie(1999).
on “The cultural decline of literary fiction” ↗…undergone a transformation to become more obscure and trendy compared to where it was in, say, the 1960s? Are the critics' favorites now just as accessible and of the same standard as, say, Lolita or Portnoy's Complaint were back then? Or do you agree there was a transformation and just disagree with the vague reasons he gives for it? Also, do you have any recommendations of contemporary literary fiction for us here…
on “The cultural decline of literary fiction” ↗