Product Description

The famous confession of Alexander Portnoy who is thrust through life by his unappeasable sexuality, yet held back at the same time by the iron grip of his unforgettable childhood.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11767 in Books
• Published on: 1998-01-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

Guardian
'The most outrageously funny book about sex yet written'

Jewish Renaissance
`scabrous language and fantastic comic energy'

The Week
'Forty years after it was first published, this is still a shocking book - obscene, hilarious and beautifully written'

Customer Reviews

A striking and hilarious analysis of a sexually confused min
Alexander portnoy details his life to the reader with wit and brilliance every step of the way. From his diatribes against his overbearing Jewish parents and growing up in the closed-mideness of Newark; to details of his grimmest and most filthy sexual encounters and fantasies. Portnoy's Complaint is a fantastically funny book about one mans urge to fulfill himself against all odds that heave been put in place against him due to an Oedipus complex and a need to be on the moral highground. Anyone who has read Philip Roth before will enjpoy this book, anyone who hasn't will find this a good starting point.

My only criticism lies in the sometimes long-winded descriptions of various stages of his adolescence and life - while although these are often funny,; they give the book a sluggish quality it otherwise would not possess.

On the whole, however, a good read and very, very funny.

Even in 2007 this is a great book!!
First, please do not be put off by the reviewer who states this book does not hold up in 2007. It does.
I read this book about 6 months ago and could not put it down. It's hysterically funny, it will make you cringe, and yes, even in 2007, it will shock you.
I've never written a review on Amazon before, but when I saw that someone had only given this book one star I had to give me opinion!! I'm not the world's biggest Phillip Roth fan by any stretch, but I read Portnoy's Complaint after I came accross it in a second hand book shop. It's clearly completely self-indulgent on Roth's part, but why not? In this case self-indulgence makes it all the more engaging and enjoyable to read. You will want to slap Portnoy accross the face, but you'll also want to see just exactly what idiotic and disgraceful things he'll do next.
Read this, you won't regret it!

shockingly good
I'm a complete newcomer to Philip Roth and picked this up on impulse in a second-hand bookshop (sorry amazon!). I loved it from start to finish and would recommend it to anyone, young, old, male or female, but with a few caveats. Firstly if you are coming new to it as I did, you might be surprised by the, shall we say frank-ness of the writing. I'm no prude but I was cringing as much as laughing during some of the more extreme passages. That a book written 40 years ago still has the power to shock is something - that its still worth reading and not just a passing fad is something else. Also, if you are at all familar with the tv show Curb Your Enthusiasm, it may be difficult not to read the whole book aloud in Larry David's voice inside your head; its very very Larry, and I suspect might have been a partial inspiration for his character on that show. Which is to say that it says a lot about being a modern Jewish male, with all the glories and hang-ups that (apparently) brings. Above all it manages to be enthralling without being remotely plot-driven and profound without being pretentious or heavy. Well done Mr Roth!