imdead-goaway

Great writer.
Very easy for me to relate to.
(but maybe that's just me)

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J. M. Kauftheil

strangedaze

Portnoy's Complain is one of my all-time favorite books. Best line: "I had it once in the bedroom, then later, at dinner, with the rest of my family on the end of a for."

Paraphrase, but you get the gist.

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His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.

Edgewise

"Portnoy's Complaint" is like a more refined Bukowski. Even if the writing sucked, I could like it for that alone.

EDIT: It sounds like I implied the writing in Portnoy's sucked. It doesn't.

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What would your good be doing if there were no evil, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it?
- Woland (Satan) in Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita"

imdead-goaway

I came across Portnoy when I was, I believe, thirteen.
Fell in love with that book.
I connected with that book in so many ways...
The being Jewish, the mother, the masturbation...

I can open that book to a random page
And just start reading.

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J. M. Kauftheil

Stewart

I've not read Roth - other than Everyman - but I've been extremely tempted to, especially after my pal's reviews. I've bought his first novel, Letting Go, with the intention of reading Roth in order.

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book reviews | world lit forum

strangedaze

Me too - any page in that book is like fireworks. And he is like a more refined Bukowski. Apt comparison, though it kind've pains me to link Bukowski's staid style with Roth's crazy ass shit.

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His sins were scarlet, but his books were read.

The Hack

I have only read The Plot Against America. It was good but not among my favorites. I will likely read more of his work.

Malone

More refined Bukowski...that sounds good. What do you guys mean buy that? Propper grammar and less alcohol induced stream of conscious?

Edgewise

The writing itself is less gritty and more fluid than Bukowski, and yet it deals with the same themes of sex and misanthropy (at least in "Portnoy's Complaint"...the only other book of his that I have read is "The Plot Against America".

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What would your good be doing if there were no evil, and what would the earth look like if shadows disappeared from it?
- Woland (Satan) in Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita"

Buddy Glass

Writes very well and has - on occasion - conjured up some very good books but, nevertheless, I can't shed the feeling that he is, at least somewhat, overrated... like Updike, he's written too much about the same topics and thus exhausted them, I feel.