Portnoy's Complaint

Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is an outrageously funny book, full of enough explicit sexual tales and graphic language to make the filthiest comedian blush. One can only imagine how it was received upon publication 40 years ago. And that's certainly what one notices immediately--the profanity, and to this reader, some frankly disgusting sexual habits of protagonist Alex Portnoy. But after one acclimates to the language and subject matter, there is a depth amidst the vulgarity that's well worth plumbing. Roth writes fearlessly from the perspective of a narrator consumed by fear—his own, his parents', and the existential dread that runs through all the Jews of this novel. Simply put, Portnoy's Complaint is a masterpiece.


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