A review by flaneussy
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

3.0

I struggled with this one. On one hand, it was extraordinarily clever and highly readable. I kind of lost myself in Roth's storytelling. On the other hand, I was uncomfortable with how gleefully misogynistic PC was. I was also a bit nauseated (but mostly impressed) by the novel's most controversial chapter. I oscillates between loving it and hating it. However, it also seems that Roth is a bit of a one-trick pony; he covered a lot of the same themes in Goodbye, Columbus, as well as the five accompanying short stories. But that's less of a complaint and more of an observation (and water is wet. Next.) I was also frustrated by the fact that Portnoy was the only fully developed character; all others were reduced to shallow and offensive stereotypes (though I guess that was kind of the point--I certainly hope that Portnoy wasn't intended to be likable.) Nonetheless, it was pretty fun. I suppose I learned a thing or two, as well. I'll never look at liver the same way again. 3.75/5?