Rating: 
Summary: Occasionally witty,good read.
Review: It's amazing that for all their misanthropic attempts to belittle the goys,the jews still won't refrain from trying to intermingle with gentile women.So,for the last time STOP TRYING TO INTERMINGLE WITH THE SAME GOYS YOU HATE!!!!(And please don't tag me as anti-semetic I don't hate anyone or think my race is superior,that would be pridful,a sin I don't ever want to be guilty of)Just a word to the wise(Yeah,It's not like I don't get the message Roth is trying to elucidate)
Rating:
Summary: The most unique reading experience
Review: I have never read any of Philip Roth's work, but I saw this novel on the Modern English's 100 Greatest Novels of the Twentieth Century list - so I gave it a try. After completing this book, a number of thoughts popped into my head: A. This is the funniest book I have ever read (even more so than Heller's Catch-22). B. It is the most creative book I have ever read. (Portnoy goes off on so many tangents that I had to read some sections twice to see how he got to that point). C. The characterization is so rich that there is not anything that Portnoy's parents say that surprises me. It all makes perfect sense. This has never happened to me before. D. I have no favorite part. The entire book is my favorite part, from cover to cover. A masterpiece. I wish I could meet Mr. Roth...
Rating:
Summary: a riot
Review: This isn't Roth's best book, but in some way it's his funniest, especially, of course, those awful, painful, poignant, hilarious monologues-within-the-monologue about his mother. The stream-of-consciousness narrative, contrary to the phillistines who criticized that aspect of the book, is deceptively well-constructed, and flows remarkably well. You'd think it was less profound James Joyce writing about Stephen Dedalus with a raging libido.I wouldn't read this book if I was easily offended by numerous obscenities, both in the language and the situations, though. On that side of it, this is Roth's most extreme book. And if you haven't read anything by Roth before, try _Goodbye, Columbus_ or one of the Zuckerman novels like _The Ghost Writer_. _Portnoy's Complaint_ is unique, but I don't think it's a great introduction to Rothian literature.
Rating:
Summary: Honest, hilarious,and poignant
Review: This book is highly deserving of its reputation as a classic of 20th Century Jewish literature. Though I'm sure as many people were offended by it as were entertained, that only proves Roth's honesty and bravery in writing it in the manner he did. Nothing is sugar-coated in here. This novel will make you laugh like very few things can, but will also make you think seriously about the difficulty in balancing ones altruistic impulses with ones selfish, animalistic desires.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty funny, thought provoking
Review: This book is incredible. It is pretty funny, although sometimes I had to remind myself to laugh since it is presented in such a dark way: a psychitrist's office! I would suggest reading this book in one or two sittings--details may be forgotten and the since the time jumps around so much it could be difficult to follow. Hey, if you like Woody Allen, imagine him reading the whole thing--that's what I did!Hey, here's my chance to vent--I really hate it when a book becomes a best seller and every jerk on the street reads it and half of them don't get it! They end up saying dumb stuff like "it was boring" or "it didn't make since". I sometimes call it the "Salman Rushdie Complex", referring to all the numb-skulls who bought Satanic Verses when it hit the charts big,thinking it would be some easy read.Pooee.
Rating:
Summary: hysterical stream-of-conciousness
Review: I found this book to be utterly hysterical, particularly the section entitled "Whacking Off". Yet for all the humour, it rang true in it's depicition of the guilt and worrying inherent in growing up Jewish. A clever, witty unabashed stream-of-conciousness narrative.
Rating:
Summary: Funny and Interesting
Review: This novel was an excellent piece of what happens with adolescents to achieve their desires. He battles Sexual Repression the most. This is confirmed by interesting forms of masturbation, fetishism, and voyuerism. His immoral actions lead up to a suprising ending. Not for the weak-stomached.
Rating:
Summary: Lives up to the recommendation
Review: I must say I was sceptical that I would like this book. However, I found it very comical. The subtle humor and ironies of the main character's life story had me up really late. It was hard to put it down.
Rating: 
Summary: Awful
Review: This book is the worst I have ever read. But what's worse isthose pretentious reviewers who said it was "deliciouslyfunny." It's not even a book. It reminds me of creative writing classes when they tell you to free write for five minutes to get some ideas. That's what Roth did but he forgot that you need to go through extensive revision in order to make a piece work. His novel needs construction work. There are so many annoying things in here, he calls his girlfriend "monkey" for the whole book. It's not funny at all, I DO NOT RECOMMEND.
Rating:
Summary: Foreshadows current *Asian-American* psyches and neuroses
Review: It is interesting to me that the person who reviewed this book just prior to me seemed to judge it as a failure, whereas their characterization of it is fairly accurate. *Portnoy's Complaint* *is* in actuality the rantings of a frustrated individual who feels the need to express their anger at their situation. In fact, that's the entire point. I certainly enjoy this book every time I pick it up. In fact, the reference that sparked my curiousity came from a wonderful Woody Allen short story whose title escapes me. Roth's ascerbic prose is at peak form here, and considering the direction he took (which is fine, in my opinion), *PC* is his most readable work prior to 1996's *American Pastoral.* His characters are vivid and unique, as usual, and while *PC* does feature Roth's signature abrupt ending, for once, it fits rather well. What I've found most fascinating about this work is that the history and complaints of Alexander Portnoy are extremely similar to those I've heard expressed by Asian-Americans who were raised in the US between 1970 through the present. The level of familial pressure and guilt laid upon Roth's narrator are quite equal to countless stories I've heard of like upbringings in households of first-generation immigrants. While obviously not everything parallels (no strict dietary laws unless one is patently Buddhist), the vast majority of it fits, sometimes almost frighteningly so. I leave with a warning and a recommendation. If one is easily offended by sex matters and graphic language, one should avoid this volume. However, I have recommended this book in the past to several of my friends, all of whom have enjoyed it, and I do so now for the curious who have had the patience to read to this end of this quaint review.
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