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A review by billyshakez
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth
4.0
This transcends its own vulgarity – placing it beyond easy dismissals as mere literary porn – by using sex to explore pretty much everything else: history, culture, identity, religion, politics etc.
It is full of coarse comic riffing and inanity, but it is a brutal portrait of life, a great work of comic irony.
Roth's language, and how he blends caustic humor with serious themes (racism, politics, sex, marriage, family, etc.), has inspired some to label him the greatest living American author. Whether he deserves that or not, I can't say.
It is full of coarse comic riffing and inanity, but it is a brutal portrait of life, a great work of comic irony.
Roth's language, and how he blends caustic humor with serious themes (racism, politics, sex, marriage, family, etc.), has inspired some to label him the greatest living American author. Whether he deserves that or not, I can't say.