
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth is a darkly humorous examination of Alexander Portnoy's upbringing and its impact on his extreme sexual longings, all narrated as a monologue to his psychiatrist. The book delves into Portnoy's complaints about his family, religion, and relationships, offering a satirical take on the individual's struggle against societal norms, particularly in the context of Jewish American experience. The writing style is described as relentless, with a mix of humor and disturbing elements that keep readers engaged.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The book contains explicit sexual content, instances of misogyny, and themes of mental health struggles, which may be triggering for some readers.
From The Publisher:
The groundbreaking novel that propelled its author to literary stardom: told in a continuous monologue from patient to psychoanalyst, Philip Roth's masterpiece draws us into the turbulent mind of one lust-ridden young Jewish bachelor named Alexander Portnoy.
Portnoy's Complaint n. [after Alexander Portnoy (1933- )] A disorder in which strongly-felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature. Spielvogel says: 'Acts of exhibitionism, voyeurism, fetishism, auto-eroticism and oral coitus are plentiful; as a consequence of the patient's "morality," however, neither fantasy nor act issues in genuine sexual gratification, but rather in overriding feelings of shame and the dread of retribution, particularly in the form of castration.' (Spielvogel, O. "The Puzzled Penis," Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Vol. XXIV, p. 909.) It is believed by Spielvogel that many of the symptoms can be traced to the bonds obtaining in the mother-child relationship.
Ratings (13)
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Reader Stats (22):
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1 comment(s)
Was this supposed to be funny? Or literary? It just seems like misogyny to me
About the Author:
In 1997 Philip Roth won the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral. In 1998 he received the National Medal of Arts at the White House and in 2002 the highest award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Gold…
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