![]() But it is Portnoy's mother, Sophie, who shapes young Alex into her own neurotic image. "It's actually a book about enmeshment and one's relationship with one's parents," says Alana Newhouse, arts and culture editor at the Jewish newspaper The Forward.Īnd what parents does Portnoy have! A father who suffers - suffers! - from both a dead-end job and a chronic case of constipation. So numerous and colorful are depictions like these, it's tempting to conclude that this is a book about masturbation. Aiding young Portnoy in these furtive sessions of self-love are a variety of props: an empty milk bottle, a sock, a baseball mitt and, famously, a piece of liver. He loves himself too much, and one part of himself in particular. Within a few pages we learn that Portnoy - nice Jewish boy, brilliant honor student - has a problem. Hardly anyone, though, is indifferent about Alexander Portnoy. It shocked some readers, delighted others. ![]() Portnoy's Complaint is told as one long psychotherapy session. His name was Alexander Portnoy, a creation of the writer Philip Roth. He was smart and funny and over-the-top neurotic. ![]() Nearly 40 years ago, a character burst onto the public stage unlike any the American public had seen before. ![]() 'Fresh Air' Turns 20 Philip Roth Discusses His Latest Accolade ![]()
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