Rating: 
Summary: The Jewish son's manifesto
Review: 33-year-old Alexander Portnoy is the voice of an archetype previously underrepresented in literature -- the Jewish son. The novel, his "complaint," is written in the form of an address to his psychiatrist, Dr. Spielvogel. Portnoy is trying desperately to understand how his relationship with his parents has influenced his dysfunctional relationships with women. Portnoy's parents have always been worried about him in ways that seem ridiculous to him. His mother tells him never to eat lobster because it might make him sick like it once did to her. When he feigns diarrhea so he can lock himself in the bathroom to masturbate, his mother chides him for purposely sabotaging his digestion by eating french fries after school. (A large portion of this book is devoted to hilarious tales of his uncontrollable onanistic urges and discharges -- into the toilet bowl, onto the light bulbs, onto the medicine chest mirror, on the bus, into the liver his mother is going to cook for dinner, once even accidentally into his own eye.) When he goes to college, they make him promise them he won't ride in a convertible. When he plans to go on a month-long vacation to Europe, his aged father lays a guilt trip on him about what he would do if he came home to find his father dead. It isn't good enough for Portnoy's parents that their son has become a prominent lawyer and civil libertarian; they want him to get married and have children. Rebelling against his parents, he starts a string of sexually adventurous but loveless affairs with shikses (non-Jewish girls) whom he gives unflattering pet names. In college, there was "The Pumpkin," a bright, wholesome, conscientious girl; then there was "The Pilgrim," a WASPy debutante; and most recently, there was "The Monkey," a beautiful ex-model but a practically illiterate hayseed. Visiting Israel after abandoning The Monkey on vacation in Greece, his sexual problems come full circle when he meets a Jewish girl who reminds him of his mother. This book is not for everybody. It is often very funny, but some may feel its tone is too paranoid, bitter, cynical, and confused. The narration frequently degenerates into empty invective (a lot of personal self-loathing, Jewish self-loathing, mocking of Catholic and WASP stereotypes), but at least it doesn't euphemize or sugarcoat its delivery. For better or worse, "Portnoy's Complaint" is as honest and accurate a piece of Twentieth Century American Jewish folklore as there is.
Rating: 
Summary: The Impotent Mensch
Review: Portnoy's Complaint is one of the most wildly inventive books I have ever read. The book, long considered a classic if for nothing more than its amazingly effective stream-of consciousness technique, is a Roth tour-de-force of macabre emotions, painful truth, and biting sarcasm. The story as such concerns a middle-aged Jewish man, Alex Portnoy ranting to his analyst about the struggles of growing up Jewish in a world populated by goyim. The book is framed as one big monologue in which Alex tells us about everything from his mother's fanatical devotion to the rules of eating kosher to his relationships with women. What's so striking about the book is the sheer strength of will on which it floats. The book plows ahead with its ugly, hilarious, painful, unbearable, engaging, sick narrator with nary a break in between. In attempting to find a cure for why Alex is so sex-obsessed, he at first seems to believe his mother's doting on him is the primary cause. Gradually, however, the reader (as well as Alex) becomes aware that Alex also suffers from a more subtle but affecting problem. The man is a classic text-book narcissist. He masturbates nearly every waking moment as a teenager not as a way of finding sexual gratification from the nature of his relationship with his mother, but because he is so self-absorbed that the act itself is a form of lust (for the self). This haunting narcissism is ultimately what causes him to never be able to commit to a woman seriously, and why he scars The Monkey so terribly (and memorably in a Rome hotel room), demeans the Italian hooker, and nearly rapes a woman in the Holy Land. He feels that by gaining control over these women, he will somehow become more potent himself. Thus, he gets his sexual gratification by inflicting pain on women. Mistakenly, this book is labelled as misogynistic because of alex's terrible crimes. But there's a clear distinction between the narrator's persona and what Roth is really trying to impart to the reader. The characters in the book are all sharply drawn. The memorable moments abound (try not to stand with mouth wide open as Alex describes defiling the family's dinner) or try refraining from expressing disgust at the inhumane way he treats the Monkey. This book is full of emotional honesty and pain. It is about not just Alex's obsession, but about the struggle that everyone experiences to escape the narrowness of our own lives. In that way, despite his reprehensible behavior, Alex represents a kind of hero. An unlikely one, perhaps, but a hero nonetheless. It is this aspect of the book that is most satisfying. Mr. Roth also vividly recreates Alex's childhood in Newark and Jersey City including priceless characterizations of Sophie and Jack, his parents. However, the book skimps on the other characters, especially Alex's sister, Hannah. Also, there are many minor characters mentioned that pop in and out of the book with no real explanation. Aunt Clara, for example, appears early in the book, and then is mentioned in a single sentence more than a hundred pages later. These inconsistencies lower the star rating slightly. The other, more important flaw in the book is the nature of alex's "Complaint". As I mentioned earlier, the reader gradually realizes the real symptom of the illness, but the book seems to keep believing that it is Mrs. Portnoy who causes Alex to be so sexually inept and voracious. It's almost as if Roth wants to convery the more subtle problem and keeps the bits with mom in them for shock value and laughs. This aspect is somewhat disappointing. Roth seems to want to have it both ways. Also, the fact that narcissism is the real disease becomes quite clear, and still Roth never delves into the triger for this behavior. For a book that is so specifically about Portnoy's sexual idiosyncracies and inability to be satisfied, there is never a clear link as to why Portnoy channels his insecurity in this manner. This is Roth's (almost) fatal error. He vividly describes the symptoms, but not the cause. Ultimately, the novel is redeemed on the strength of its characters and emotional pain. Although readers may never know precisely why Alex is the way he is, the hilarious, shocking, and at times unbearably sad portrayal of his life is what remains indelible about this book. It's also, I think, why it's reputation is still so high. Overall, i recommend the book with those reservations. Perhaps a bit overrated by the Modern Library, but a landmark book nonetheless. Grade: B+
Rating:
Summary: spielvogel's diagnosis misleading
Review: The introductory bit attributed to Dr. Spielvogel, defining "Portnoy's Complaint" in terms of an inability to experience sexual pleasure without guilt is rather misleading. Portnoy's problem (possibly endemic in our time, at least among males) is that he cannot identify anyone outside himself as having human feelings. One of Roth's more obvious narrative strengths is his ability to capture the rhythms of his characters' speech (see especially Zuckerman Unbound and Operation Shylock). And while Alex here gives us very vivid impressions of his mother and to a lesser extent his father, we get almost nothing of his sister and even less of the girlfriends who precede the Monkey. And not much of the two Sabras. Why is that? Because these people exist in Alex' mind (possibly also in Roth's, but that is another question) only as cardboard cutouts. Contrary to Spielvogel, I think it is clear that Alex does experience sexual gratification (a lot), and though it is usually tied up with his sense of the forbidden, this probably increases his gratification, and the only guilt he experiences is a nagging sense that he is abusing and discarding people. Which he is, because he is afraid to connect. I do not think the structure of the novel (by which I do not mean the extended rant, which is rather well done, but the arc of the themes of the overbearing mother, the ineffectual father, the adolescent rebellion, the sexual adventurism) gives us much insight into why exactly Alex is so disconnected emotionally from other people. This has more to do with a sort of clinical narcissism than with repression and guilt, but the source is largely unexplored. Which then leads to the question, does Roth understand this himself? Anyway, to answer the person who wondered whether the rather tiresome afterword that Roth wrote for the 25th anniversary edition is factual: are you kidding?
Rating: 
Summary: Much better that Holden Caulfield!
Review: This book is the extremist version of Holden Caufield's abhorrence of modern day culture and the problems that are encountered by male teens. And when I say the "extremist" version I mean it. This book is hysterical - the situations that the protagonist, Portnoy, puts himself through are unbelievable. Holden Caufield can continue to fantasize himself as the Catcher in the Rye, however, I much prefer, the perverted and convoluted mindset of Alex Portnoy and the sexual tribulations that control his life. I can't say that I identify with Alex Portnoy, but I do find his rants and superstitions much more amusing and fascinating to listen to. I shouldn't be surprised at the randy writing of Phillip Roth after reading his much acclaimed Sabbath's Theater - but I have to admit the uninhibited and uncontrolled outbursts in the book were indeed hysterical and surprising. I'd like to further note, that I very much enjoyed Roth's afterward, and I'd like to know if what he wrote was true about his discovery of a piece of paper left behind in a restaurant in Chicago that helped shape what Roth wrote about in his writing career. I do highly recommend this book - it is intended for someone with an open mind and frankness about sexuality.
Rating: 
Summary: Portnoy's Complaint
Review: I cant believe I payed for this book! I am not a prude, but I sure could not find any reason for the raunchy sexual writing in this book. I can write a book this good. Would not recommened this book to anyone.
Rating:
Summary: I'll never think of apples the same way again.
Review: "Portnoy's Complaint" is definitely a . . . unique book. It was recommended to me by a friend, a friend I now consider completely off his gourd. The premise of the book is very interesting, albiet a little hard to follow. Alexander Portnoy is a Jew, growing up in America with an especially nagging mother and a (literally) anal-retentive father. He recounts his life with his mother and his sexual revolution/revelation and interweaves them in a fantasically funny and tougue-in-cheek monologue. The beginning of the book is definitely the best, though Roth loses a little momentum. The book is very engaging as a whole, but by the end I was wondering where the ranting stopped and the hilarity begain again. Roth's afterword puts a personal spin on things, and helps tie it all together. All in all, better than the trash being printed today, but not quite up to masterpiece standards.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent book. Bright attractive cover.
Review: I really enjoyed this novel, despite the fact that it contained very little karate. I read this last summer. It was the first novel I read by Mr. Roth. He is a very good writer. There are a number of notable scenes in this book worth talking about, but I won't. There's some randy material concerning sexual matters, but you'll get over that--unless you are some sort of Jan Brady-like prude. There's lots of Yiddish slang as well, but I got a dictionary look up those words. It was a Yiddish dictionary. Portnoy is a successful person but he has some problems, mostly sexual. He seems to want nothing more than a gentile woman, but when he gets one, he seems to despise them. His mother doesn't like him eating french fries.
Rating:
Summary: A LIVERISH DISH
Review: Notwithstanding the continuous complicate output of Roth's works, I firmly believe this short bestselling novel to be his masterpiece. It takes the form of a monologue featuring the confession of a comic character who is thrust through life by his unappeasable sexuality, yet at the same time held back by the iron grip of his unforgettable childhood. You cannot avoid, if you are of the male gender, to find yourself in some of Portnoy's inner predicaments: laughing it out loud is not enough, you've gotta enjoy this book as a wholesome dish -- with all its petty struggles to convey the sense of growing in a confusing world, where full sexuality is still repressed on a façade of fake modernity. I truly enjoyed the whole complaint...
Rating:
Summary: Very clever but with the main character is difficult to like
Review: Okay, Philip Roth can write. And here he writes very well, fluidly, brilliantly. My main problem with the book though, is just how dispicable the main character Alex is. I couldn't get through it. I was too disgusted with everything about this guy. It began as very funny, then I just wound up feeling gross for even being expected to sympathize with this guy. It's like a guilty pleasure or something, which I'm sure was part of the point Roth was trying to make!
Rating:
Summary: Dena's Complaint
Review: I haven't read such a disappointing book in my life (this year so far)! It started off interesting, funny, meaningful - I thought he'd go somewhere with it. Off the deep-end? Absolutely NOTHING was accomplished with this novel and I don't feel I've gained anything from it. The main character, Alexander Portnoy, simply recounts a series of sexual encounters - with women, glass milk bottles, pieces of raw meat - the whole book just turned into a farce, needling in on the same obsession over and over. Does everyone with an overbearing mother sexually assault raw animal flesh? If this is definitive Jewish-American literature, something is seriously wrong and a re-assessment should be in order. This garbage is going directly to my bird's cage. Better lining than literature. Philip Roth has to be the greatest self-loathing Jewish man alive, or at least one lucky enough to make a career out of it.
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