The conversations are between two people who have been having an affair that spans years. About two thirds of the way in, our writer man is finally given a name - it's "Philip". Then we find out one of his characters is called "Zuckerman". At first we find out the man is a writer. The conversations vary between one or two lines, to pages and pages of talking. For a book that's being touted as "erotically original", there is precious little eros here. But very little sex talk, which is unlike Nicholson Baker's Vox. He decided, "I'm gonna write a book with only dialogue, dammit." The novel is pretty much all dialogue, similar to Nicholson Baker's Vox. Written in 1990 when Roth was 57, with over a dozen novels under his belt, it's evident he was at a point in his career where he was free to do what he wanted, to experiment a bit. Besides, I really wanted to read a book comprised of conversations taking place pre and post coitus between two lovers who were married to other people. It'd been a year or two since Roth had annoyed me. Mensch, shmensch.īut I was intrigued, because I'm. A little something told me that I just might want to throw this book at the wall. Well, I already read his Portnoy's Complaint in which Monsieur Portnoy jerks off in the bathroom while his hysterical mother screams from the other side. The book brags that it's "erotically original". All the while I had this nefarious, impudent novel on its way to me, and I knew the compliment probably wouldn't apply for long. I finished my 2020 reading year with Philip Roth's magnificent debut collection Goodbye, Columbus, and consequently dubbed him a mensch. Warning to the wise: some spoiler-y content ahead.
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