Philip Roth's Rude Truth: The Art of Immaturity
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"Ross Posnock's meditation upon Philip Roth is the best literary criticism yet afforded to our foremost novelist since Faulkner. Roth emerges from this study as a major American novelist in a literary tradition that goes back to Emerson and Henry James. Posnock clearly defines the writer whose heartening motto is: 'We are here to be insulted.' One of Roth's favorite adages is Heine's: 'There is a God and his name is Aristophanes.'"--Harold Bloom, literary critic"Far and away the most astute and nuanced account we have or likely to have for many years to come, of Roth's emergence as an unrivalled master of irony and irreverence--a rhapsodic genius most alive when provoking moralists and liberationists alike. No critic has made a better case for Roth's place among the classic writers of the nation and the world."--Eric J. Sundquist, University of California, Los Angeles"Ross Posnock takes a familiar figure, on whom rivers of ink have been spilt, and completely reorients the critical context for an understanding of his work. His book gives us a powerful and original perspective on Roth, placing him in the mainstream of American literature from Emerson and Whitman to Ellison. Rightly emphasizing his later books, Posnock sees him as an antinomian writer, ruthless, outrageous, mind-bendingly complex yet deeply consistent."--Morris Dickstein, Graduate Center of the City University of New York"Philip Roth is arguably one of the two or three most important writers in America today, and Ross Posnock's book is a superlative achievement fully worthy of its subject. It is a masterful work of literary and cultural criticism. I loved reading it, and will return to it frequently for exhilaration and enlightenment. I have not the slightest doubt that many other readers will share my enthusiasm."--Michael Gilmore, Brandeis UniversityJay L. Halio - ShofarA very learned and stimulating critique of Philip Roth's fiction.... Ross Posnock has written one of the three best books on Philip Roth—if not the best.... He treats Roth's work as it deserves to be regarded, especially since no one as yet has adequately traced its roots to the major traditions of American literature.
Preface xiAcknowledgments xixList of Abbreviations xxiIntroduction: Roth Antagonistes 1Immaturity: A Genealogy 39Ancestors and Relatives: The Game of Appropriation and the Sacrifice of Assimilation 88"A very slippery subject": The Counterlife as Pivot 125Letting Go, or How to Lead a Stupid Life: Sabbath's Nakedness 155Being Game in The Human Stain 193The Two Philips 236Coda: "The stars are indispensable" 260Notes 267Works Cited 287Index 295
