Portnoy’s Complaint

By Philip Roth

By Philip Roth

Part of Vintage International

Part of Vintage International

Best Seller
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

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Paperback $16.95

Sep 20, 1994 | 288 Pages

Ebook $11.99

Apr 13, 2011 | 304 Pages

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    • Paperback $16.95

      Sep 20, 1994 | 288 Pages

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    • Ebook $11.99

      Apr 13, 2011 | 304 Pages

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    About Portnoy’s Complaint

    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.

    About Portnoy’s Complaint

    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.

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    Praise

    “Roth is the bravest writer in the United States. He’s morally brave, he’s politically brave. And Portnoy is part of that bravery.” —Cynthia Ozick, Newsday

    “Deliciously funny…absurd and exuberant, wild and uproarious… a brilliantly vivid reading experience.”–New York Times Book Review

    “Simply one of the two or three funniest works in American fiction.” —Chicago Sun-Times

    “Touching as well as hilariously lewd…. Roth is vibrantly talented…as marvelous a mimic and fantasist as has been produced by the most verbal group in human history.” —Alfred Kazin, New York Review of Books

    About Philip Roth

    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… More about Philip Roth

    About Philip Roth

    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… More about Philip Roth

    Product Details

    Paperback
    Published by Vintage
    Sep 20, 1994 | 288 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780679756453

    Ebook
    Published by Vintage
    Apr 13, 2011 | 304 Pages | ISBN 9780307744050

    Also by Philip Roth

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