#1 New York Times bestselling author Johanna Lindsay presents
a powerfully romantic Regency-era tale that is breathtaking in scope
and wondrously passionate.
When Sebastian Townshend, son of the eighth Earl of Edgewood, was banished from his family due to the tragic results of a duel, he vowed never to return to England. Now living on the continent, Sebastian has forged a new identity as a deadly mercenary, The Raven. But his former neighbor, Lady Margaret Landor, has different plans for him. Back in England, Sebastian's father has had several accidents and Margaret suspects foul play and deception that reach as far back as the infamous duel. Convinced that only Sebastian can set the situation to rights, Margaret arranges a scandalous bargain with him that includes Sebastian's returning home as her husband. As the newlyweds uncover a deadly scheme, a fierce passion blossoms between them, which neither anticipated -- and neither can resist.
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Portnoy's Complaint
List Price: $14.95
Our Price: $10.17
Your Save: $ 4.78 ( 32% )
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Manufacturer: Vintage
Book written by: Philip Roth
Average Customer Rating:  
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Portnoy's Complaint - book description
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9780679756453
ISBN: 0679756450
Label: Vintage
Manufacturer: Vintage
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 304
Publication Date: 1994-09-20
Publisher: Vintage
Release Date: 1994-09-20
Studio: Vintage
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Editorial Reviews:
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.
With a new Afterword by the author for the 25th Anniversary edition.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:
Summary: Funny, Influential, Modern, Psychological Jewish Novel -- that's well worth your time...
Comment: Philip Roth's 'Portnoy's Complaint' offers the reader a fresh take on the Novel while never forgetting the tradition of the great writers that came before him.
Porntoy's complaint is a character study in the form of a monologue made by Alexander Portnoy, a successfull Jew. However, Alex suffers from an inner conflict that is dividing and tormenting him. On one hand he loves his family, and he serves his community dutifully. On the other hand he is tormented by his childhood and his overbearing mother. He's also a bit of a sexual deviant, and feels guilty for indulging in a number of sexual fetishes.
The book is incredibly funny. You'll laugh out loud at the Alex's recollection of his childhood, masterbating in the bathroom while his mom calls into him, "Don't flush Alex! I want to see what's in your stool!"
The book is also highly influential. Philip Roth has invented the "Self Loathing Jew". If you're at all a fan of Larry David's Curb Your Enthusiasm, then you simply MUST read this book. It's obvious that David got many of his comic ideas about Jewishness from directly from Roth.
If there's a complaint I have about the book it would be that the novel feels incomplete. I found myself hoping throughout that we'd get to hear Alex engage in some dialoge with his shrink. Instead the whole book is a monologue made by Alex, directed at his shrink. Sometimes this approaches on overwhellming, but the length of the novel and it's pacing and the variety and quality of the antecdotes from his past keep the reader intrueged.
What exactly does Alex tell his Shrink? Well, he spends most of the time talking about his overbearing Mother. He tells about his high school addiction to masterbation. He talks about his on again off again relationship with his girlfriend 'The Monkey'. As well as previous relationships he had durring college. Finally, he talks about his trip to Israel and his sexual exploits there.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Laugh-out-loud hilarious!
Comment: Perhaps influeced by Italo Svevo's ZENO'S CONSCIENCE and J.D. Salinger's THE CATCHER IN THE RYE, but far more bawdy and hilarious.
Roth is at his wildest here. Using the very singular point of view of Alexander Portnoy, a 33-year-old, sexually obsessed, guilt-ridden, nearly self-hating Jew who wants nothing more than to rid himself of his parents' overbearing influence, Roth channels a thousand different voices and skips back and forth in time to tell us Portnoy's life story. Mostly, we learn about his family life, romantic conquests and sexual proclivities -- which include the hilarious and unfortunate tale of a piece of raw liver!
The book reads like one long monologue and yet is never tiresome. By far the funniest work of literary fiction I've ever read. Ten stars! Don't miss this one.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Maybe I missed something.
Comment: I picked up Portnoy's Complaint expecting that it would not disappoint. More than one reader whom I respect a great deal told me that I should not neglect Portnoy's Complaint in my quest to understand how highly Roth is regarded in the literary world. For the most part, I loved Roth's American Pastoral. Save for one passage that made me laugh out loud and one passage about a neighborhood softball game, Portnoy's Complaint was a 287-page rant (I defy you to shuffle through the book randomly and find a page that isn't peppered with exclamation marks) that I suppose carried a great deal of shock value when it was published in the late sixties. Roth's Afterword is immensely more interesting than the novel.
Customer Rating:
Summary: I thought this was a book about gangsters
Comment: When I picked up this book, I thought it was going to be about gangsters in the 1930s. This is not what the book is about. It's still pretty good, with many funny descriptions of sex, sexual neuroses, sexual frustration, sexual mishaps, sexual acts, sexual regrets, sexual descriptions, etc. The level of Alexander Portnoy's introspection and self-awareness makes for a compelling read. The fact that there were no gangsters (as I had expected) did not, in the end, make me too sad, nor did it makes me regret reading this book.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Reflection of 1969 and Jersey Jews [52][T]
Comment: Like so many things in this world: you either love them or hate them. This book would be one item added to that list.
The topics of this book can frustrate and upset countless readers. It is semi-autobiographical - which delivers mainly Jewish humor - about the sexual frustrations of the New Jersey raised Jewish boy of his just-before-the-baby-boomer generation. From that backdrop, you are then sent to read hundreds of pages about masturbation, fellatio, cunnilingus, and more. To some, no matter how well written, these topics are taboo and not for their enjoyment.
The style of this book is a stream of consciousness narrative, flowing in and out, jumping topics and times in truly narrative fashion, reflecting basically on sexual conquests and mores. It is like a very long session with a psychologist or psychiatrist. And, appropriately ends with, "So [said the doctor]. Now vee may perhaps to begin. Yes?"
Published when the play "Hair" was rocking the charts [1969], this book is as much about its time as it is about Jewish frustration. Having grown up in those times in a Jewish neighborhood, I liked this book - but did not love it. I loved some portions - his desecration of rabbis is unparalleled when he writes, "Oh God, oh Guh-ah-duh, if you're up there shining down your countenance, why not spare us from here on out the enunciation of the rabbis! Why not spare us rabbis themselves! Look, why not spare us religion, if only in the name of human dignity!" More of the times than of Jewish humor, yes?
Between the writing style and topics, may readers will be upset. The seemingly "private jokes" often utilizing Yiddish to accentuate their cynical zingers, really could be applied to other ethnicities, save the Yiddish terms. But, New York/New Jersey humor, even if about "clean" topics can be beyond reader's desired topics. Just not for this reader.
There are screaming times in this book when Roth shows that his comedic writing style is equal to the best stand up comics of his generation. He proves in this book, and perhaps "Goodnight Columbus", that he was a forerunner of the great cynical humor which pervaded movies and television from his generation forward. His style is copied throughout Norman Lear's mega-successful series, is perhaps what made Woody Allen a social hero in the 1970's, and may be the creator of other modern comics - including Howard Stern whose attempts to shock people about sexual innuendo today are no more revolutionary than what Roth provides in this novel.
For social importance, this is a great novel. For humor it is a great novel. As for comfort in reading, it is a good novel. I would not force this book upon any of those who may be insulted or shocked by its topics. Hence, I deliver my endorsement with caution.
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