Landmark Books in All Fields
ItemID: #106317
Cost: $1,800.00

Portnoy's Complaint

Philip Roth

FIRST EDITION OF PORTNOY’S COMPLAINT, INSCRIBED BY PHILIP ROTH

ROTH, Philip. Portnoy's Complaint. New York: Random House, (1969). Octavo, original blue cloth, original dust jacket. $1800.

First trade edition of Roth's breakthrough novel, boldly inscribed by him, "Aug. 1971, For J— P— My best, Philip Roth."

One of Roth's most successful novels, relating the angst-ridden auto-erotic adventures of Alexander Portnoy. "This poignant, wildly funny novel can be seen as part and parcel of the cultural ferment and artistic experimentation which characterized 1969, the tumultuous year of its publication. At the time, the book's obscenity and perceived anti-Semitism created outrage, excitement, and tremendous sales. The book endures because of vivid characterizations, perfect-pitch capture of vernacular speech, and the pathos of its hero's predicament" (Books of the Century, 32). Preceded by the signed limited first edition of 600 copies. Anthony Burgess, 99 Novels, 106.

Book fine; tiny bit of tape reinforcement to verso of about-fine dust jacket.

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