Reviews

My Life as a Man by Philip Roth

muffmacguff's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

**Content warning discussion of IPV and suicide**
I really did not enjoy this, except for maybe a small handful of moments. I had previously only read Portnoy's Complaint and Goodbye, Columbus of Roth's and like Portnoy's Complaint this felt so rambly and unfocused, like reading a first draft (which I don't think is the case! I just think he wrote like that? It made more sense in Portnoy's Complaint because the book was meant to feel like a monologue) and it definitely had Portnoy's Complaint's misogyny without even the misogynist dirty jokes of that book. It feels like a quintessential novel of its time, it's literally about a college professor/writer who hates his wife and fucks students. In this case, the book appears to be heavily autobiographical, and the hated wife based on his real-life hated wife. In this book, she dies in a car accident and he spends a few pages celebrating that his marriage is finally over. In real life, the hated wife died in a car accident, after a lengthy and explicit scene in which he beats her up and threatens to murder her (then spends a few pages celebrating).
There was one moment in the book that genuinely cracked me up but who cares? Otherwise I felt like I'd read this before, and better, in The Love Affairs of Nathanial P. Like in that book, this dude cannot fathom why he makes women so unhappy, he's such a good guy; unlike in that book, any animosity the author has for the protagonist of My Life as a Man is self-loathing and its attendant narcissism. This book starts with two different short stories, basically differently-fictionalized versions of the same story, and then it's like these short stories were written by the main character of this book isn't he talented?

I really can't imagine a world where I'd ever recommend this book to another person. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Homophobia, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Body shaming, Gaslighting, Incest, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Classism, Sexism, Suicide attempt, Biphobia, Bullying, Violence, Death, Excrement, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, and Sexual content

emmastia's review against another edition

3.0

Roth is a great writer and while many of the characters were annoying, I still wanted to keep going thanks to the terrific writing.

janey's review against another edition

3.0

Yeah, I still don't care for early Roth despite how much I love his more recent work.

fredrikke's review against another edition

4.0

this book was an intense read. roth has such a fascinating way of writing, even though a lot of it is quite brutal. he is definitely sharp. would also say he is witty in a very cynical way.

edit: after reading some other reviews of this book it seems that a lot of people think that roth hates women because of the way he describes them in this book. i did not see that at all, but maybe it is because i was not looking for it?

jaycatt7's review against another edition

1.0

This unconventional novel had some truly engaging moments, but it was a hard slog getting there. To quote another author who, at least, can claim to be more widely read: “The fucking you got was never worth the screwing you took.”