Portnoy's Complaint
Philip RothPortnoy's Complaint n. [after Alexander Portnoy (1933- )] A disorder in which strongly-felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature. Spielvogel says: 'Acts of exhibitionism, voyeurism, fetishism, auto-eroticism and oral coitus are plentiful; as a consequence of the patient's "morality," however, neither fantasy nor act issues in genuine sexual gratification, but rather in overriding feelings of shame and the dread of retribution, particularly in the form of castration.' (Spielvogel, O. "The Puzzled Penis," Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Vol. XXIV, p. 909.) It is believed by Spielvogel that many of the symptoms can be traced to the bonds obtained in the mother-child relationship.
"Upon its release in 1969, Portnoy’s Complaint—Philip Roth’s notorious novel of “a lust-ridden, mother-addicted young Jewish bachelor” confessing his sexual desires and frustrations to a silent psychoanalyst—caused a firestorm of controversy and catapulted its young author to literary celebrity. Some critics deemed it obscene and anti-Semitic, others lauded it as a a moving and uproarious tour-de-force. Either way, the book certainly got people talking and its renown has now endured for over half a century." - Bookmarks
Philip Milton Roth gained early literary fame with the 1959 collection Goodbye, Columbus (winner of 1960's National Book Award), cemented it with his 1969 bestseller Portnoy's Complaint and has continued to write critically-acclaimed works, many of which feature his fictional alter ego, Nathan Zuckerman which began with The Ghost Writer in 1979, and include American Pastoral (1997) (winner