{"product_id":"promiscuous-bernard-avishai-9780300192414","title":"Promiscuous: \"portnoy's Complaint\" and Our Doomed Pursuit of Happiness","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA spirited biography of Philip Roth's notorious novel, from the outrage it sparked to its impact on Roth to its legacy some forty years later\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The publication of \u003ci\u003ePortnoy's Complaint\u003c\/i\u003e in 1969 provoked instant, powerful reactions. It blasted Philip Roth into international fame, subjected him to unrelenting personal scrutiny and conjecture, and shocked legions of readers--some delighted, others appalled. Portnoy and other main characters became instant archetypes, and Roth himself became a touchstone for conflicting attitudes toward sexual liberation, Jewish power, political correctness, Freudian language, and bourgeois disgust. What about this book inspired Richard Lacayo of \u003ci\u003eTime\u003c\/i\u003e to describe it as \"a literary instance of shock and awe,\" and the Modern Library to list it among the 100 best English-language novels of the twentieth century?\u003cp\u003eBernard Avishai offers a witty exploration of Roth's satiric masterpiece, based on the prolific novelist's own writings, teaching notes, and personal interviews. In addition to discussing the book's timing, rhetorical gambit, and sheer virtuousity, Avishai includes a chapter on the Jewish community's outrage over the book and how Roth survived it, and another on the author's scorching treatment of psychoanalysis. Avishai shows that Roth's irreverent novel left us questioning who, or what, was the object of the satire. Hilariously, it proved the serious ways we construct fictions about ourselves and others.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Bernard Avishai\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 030019241X\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780300192414\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Yale University Press\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/19\/2013\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 240\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.60lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.90d","brand":"Bernard Avishai","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":47425004896511,"sku":"9780300192414","price":39.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_758f5823-5ef4-44e1-8636-ffba336e052b.jpg?v=1761536343","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/promiscuous-bernard-avishai-9780300192414","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}