Philip Roth's fiction has often come very close to fact, and in MY LIFE AS A MAN (1974), his sixth novel (and first post-PORTNOY), he gives us Peter Tarnopol, a ...
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Philip Roth's fiction has often come very close to fact, and in MY LIFE AS A MAN (1974), his sixth novel (and first post-PORTNOY), he gives us Peter Tarnopol, a rising young writer whose many resemblances to Roth are blatant and whose story recalls Roth's first brief disastrous marriage to a woman who, soon after their divorce, was killed in a car crash. In the novel, Tarnopol is involved in a chillingly cruel and destructive marriage with a woman named Maureen. Even after her death, their relationship obsesses and depresses him, and he is driven to consulting a psychiatrist, Dr. Spielvogel (who was also Portnoy's doctor). MY LIFE AS A MAN includes two autobiographical short stories, ostensibly by Tarnopol, before the novel itself begins--one about his childhood, one about a destructive woman in his life who, in the succeeding novel, morphs into the evil Maureen. This novel has contributed hugely to the popular perception of Roth as a misogynist. It is also, like most of Roth's fiction, hilarious, often true, and definitely a page-turner.
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Description: Very Good in Very Good jacket. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. 330 bright and tightly bound pages. Bright red cloth boards, solid hinges, and fairly sharp corners. The book shows only very light shelf-wear and bumping. Name in ink on FFEP. DJ in nearly the same condition with only light shelf-wear. Very nice overall copy priced BELOW like copies in similar condition. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.
Description: Good in Good jacket. 37-V Books rated "Good" may have some notes, underlining, or highlighting. These books also may contain the previous owner's name, stamp, sticker, or gift inscription, or may be library discards.
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Description: Good. 1974, Hardcover. Used-Good Hall Street Books Proudly ships all books from Brooklyn, NY. All orders are processed and shipped within 24 hours M-F. 100% Money-Back Guarantee and No-Worry return policy.
Description: /Dust Jacket Included. 0030126460 Library of Congress: 73-20807 This hardcover is a very nice third printing. dustjacket clean and bright. There is an owner book plate inside. 330 pages.
"During the night I paused at times in reading Maureen to read Faulkner. "I believe that man will not merely endure: he will prevail. He is immortal, not because he alone among creatures has an inexhaustible voice, but because he has a soul, a spirit capable of compassion and sacrifice and endurance." I read that Nobel Prize speech from beginning to end, and I thought, "And what the hell are you talking about? How could you write The Sound and the Fury, how could you write The Hamlet, how could you write about Temple Drake and Popeye, and write that?" Intermittently I examined the No. 5 Junior can opener, Maureen's corncob. At one point I examined my own corncob. Endure? Prevail? We are lucky, sir, that we can get our shoes on in the morning. That's what I would have said to those Swedes! (If they'd asked.)
Like Portnoy's Complaint, this story felt like I was slowing to leer at a three-car pileup in traffic, but that this time there was less entertainment in much heavier traffic. If the two books are indicative of the rest of his offerings, men must read Roth mostly to feel better about their own romantic lives. I can't imagine this material being very popular with women.
Roth's story is set up similar to Bellow's in Humboldt's Gift: a Jewish male protagonist who has everything going for him - dutiful son, peerless academic, doing O.K. with women - manages to fall prey to some succubus and once in, perversely works to maintain the relationship. It's a pathetic sort of story, but one rich with entertainment potential. Not really much payoff in this case, though: read HG instead."
"i got fed up with this by the end. there's only so much angst and navel gazing i can stand. how many times can you go over the whole story and what a thoroughly nasty protagonist. i don't really mind thorought nasty protagonists but i really had had my fill with the narrator quite early on."
"A bitter-sweet point of view about the eternal "problem" or that so-called "disorder" between man&woman, which reminded me about another great book - "The black box" (Amos Oz)!"
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