The publication of Porty's Complaint in 1969 provoked instant, powerful reactions. It blasted Philip Roth into international fame, subjected him to unrelenting personal scrutiny and conjecture, and shocked legions of readers-some delighted, others appalled. Porty and other main characters became instant archetypes, and Roth himself became a touchstone for conflicting attitudes toward sexual liberation, Jewish power, political correctness, Freudian language, and bourgeois disgust. What about this book inspired Richard Lacayo of Time to describe it as a literary instance of shock and awe, and the Modern Library to list it among the 100 best English-language vels of the twentieth century? Bernard Avishai offers a witty exploration of Roth's satiric masterpiece, based on the prolific velist's own writings, teaching tes, and personal interviews. In addition to discussing the book's timing, rhetorical gambit, and sheer virtuousity, Avishai includes a chapter on the Jewish community's outrage over the book and how Roth survived it, and ather on the author's scorching treatment of psychoanalysis. Avishai shows that Roth's irreverent vel left us questioning who, or what, was the object of the satire. Hilariously, it proved the serious ways we construct fictions about ourselves and others.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Yale University Press
ISBN-10
030019241x
ISBN-13
9780300192414
eBay Product ID (ePID)
141492264
Product Key Features
Author
Bernard Avishai
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Subject
Literary Criticism
Dimensions
Weight
272g
Height
203mm
Width
127mm
Additional Product Features
Place of Publication
New Haven
Spine
23mm
Author Biography
Bernard Avishai is adjunct professor of business at Hebrew University and author of three books, most recently, The Hebrew Republic, and dozens of articles for The New Yorker, New York Review of Books, Harper's, Harvard Business Review, and other publications. He divides his time between Jerusalem and Wilmot, NH.