Unlike the main characters in almost all of Philip Roth’s other texts, the narrator of “You Can’t Tell a Man by the Song He Sings” is nameless and never clearly identified as Jewish or non-Jewish, though his companions are Italian… Read More ›
Philip Roth
Analysis of Philip Roth’s Goodbye, Columbus
Sometimes called a novella, Philip Roth’s “Goodbye, Columbus” offers a thorough introduction to some of the key themes, techniques, and character types that will populate Roth’s subsequent novels. While “Goodbye, Columbus” provides sharp social criticism, it is equally resonant on… Read More ›
Analysis of Philip Roth’s Epstein
Lou Epstein, the eponymous narrator of “Epstein,” is having a hard time. At age 59, he finds himself experiencing a postmidlife crisis. His once-beautiful wife, Goldie, sags and nags; his daughter, Sheila, “a twenty-three-year old woman with ‘a social conscience!’… Read More ›