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Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth (Book Analysis): Detailed Summary, Analysis and Reading Guide
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Unlock the more straightforward side of Portnoy’s Complaint with this concise and insightful summary and analysis!
This engaging summary presents an analysis of Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth, whose title refers to the insatiable sexual compulsions experienced by its protagonist. From the outside, Alexander Portnoy appears to live a charmed life: at the age of just 33 he is a brilliant thinker, a successful lawyer and the Assistant Commissioner for the City of New York Commission on Human Opportunity. However, this façade conceals a shameful secret: Portnoy has never felt able to live up to his overprotective parents’ impossible standards, and turns to uninhibited sexual encounters and compulsive masturbation as a form of release. The novel’s explicit sexual content shocked many readers when it was first published, but it is now widely considered to be one of the finest English-language books of the 20th century. Philip Roth is one of America’s most revered living writers, with a career spanning several decades and a host of literary awards to his name.
Find out everything you need to know about Portnoy’s Complaint in a fraction of the time!
This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:
• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection
Why choose BrightSummaries.com?
Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.
See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!
This engaging summary presents an analysis of Portnoy’s Complaint by Philip Roth, whose title refers to the insatiable sexual compulsions experienced by its protagonist. From the outside, Alexander Portnoy appears to live a charmed life: at the age of just 33 he is a brilliant thinker, a successful lawyer and the Assistant Commissioner for the City of New York Commission on Human Opportunity. However, this façade conceals a shameful secret: Portnoy has never felt able to live up to his overprotective parents’ impossible standards, and turns to uninhibited sexual encounters and compulsive masturbation as a form of release. The novel’s explicit sexual content shocked many readers when it was first published, but it is now widely considered to be one of the finest English-language books of the 20th century. Philip Roth is one of America’s most revered living writers, with a career spanning several decades and a host of literary awards to his name.
Find out everything you need to know about Portnoy’s Complaint in a fraction of the time!
This in-depth and informative reading guide brings you:
• A complete plot summary
• Character studies
• Key themes and symbols
• Questions for further reflection
Why choose BrightSummaries.com?
Available in print and digital format, our publications are designed to accompany you on your reading journey. The clear and concise style makes for easy understanding, providing the perfect opportunity to improve your literary knowledge in no time.
See the very best of literature in a whole new light with BrightSummaries.com!
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Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth (Book Analysis) - Bright Summaries
American novelist
Born in Newark (New Jersey) in 1933.
Literary awards:
Three-time winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, 1994, 2001 and 2007 (for Operation Shylock, The Human Stain and Everyman)
Pulitzer Prize in Fiction, 1998 (for American Pastoral)
Gold Medal in Fiction from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, 2001
Prince of Asturias Award for Literature, 2012
Notable honours:
National Medal of Arts, 1998
Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Harvard University, 2003
Notable works:
Letting Go (1962), novel
The Breast (1972), novella
Operation Shylock (1993), novel
American Trilogy (comprising American Pastoral, 1997; I Married a Communist, 1998; and The Human Stain, 2000), novels
The American writer Philip Roth is the second son of an American Jewish family that originated from the Ukrainian-Polish region of Galicia. He grew up in the mainly Jewish neighbourhood of Weequahic in Newark, New Jersey, and this had a major influence on much of his work. He studied English at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, before earning an M.A. in English Literature from the University of Chicago and teaching English there. He then taught creative writing at the University of Iowa and Princeton University, and comparative literature at the University of Pennsylvania. He retired from teaching in the early 1990s.
At the University of Chicago, Roth met two other influential writers, namely Saul Bellow, who shared his Jewish origins, and Margaret Martinson, who went on to become his first wife. His dysfunctional relationship with Martinson and subsequent divorce had a major impact on his writing, and she provided the inspiration for a number of his female characters, including Mary Jane Reed in
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