Alex Portnoy (2024)

FAQs

What was the story Portnoy's complaint about? ›

Portnoy's Complaint is a provocative and humorous novel by Philip Roth that delves into the complex inner world of its protagonist, Alexander Portnoy. Through a series of therapy sessions, Portnoy recounts his life and his struggles with his overbearing mother, his sexual desires, and his Jewish identity.

Philip Roth's neurotic Portnoy (Richard Benjamin) blames his mother for the hang-ups he acquired growing up in New Jersey.

Portnoy's Complaint / Film synopsis

“There are two voices in Portnoy's Complaint, Philip Roth's quasi-autobiographical tour de force, though both voices are the voices of the hero.

His mother, Sophie, is the definitive article: she cleans up after the maid, worries endlessly about what goes into Alex and what comes out of him, and exists to protect him from gentiles and manhood. His father, Jack, is the silent, suffering provider--weak, cowed and constipated.

Hilariously funny, boldly intimate, startlingly candid, Portnoy's Complaint was an immediate bestseller upon its publication in 1969, and is perhaps Roth's best-known book.

Portnoy is "a lust-ridden, mother-addicted young Jewish bachelor", and the narration weaves through time describing scenes from each stage of his life; every recollection in some way touches upon his central dilemma: his inability to enjoy the fruits of his sexual adventures even as his extreme libidinal urges force ...

Alexander Portnoy, the protagonist of Philip Roth's 1969 novel Portnoy's Complaint.

In 1969, Portnoy's Complaint made Roth into a celebrity and a figure of controversy. The book sold 400,000 copies in hardcover.

The book's narrator, Alexander Portnoy, unbuckles all his sexual complexes and lusts in the narrative.

He owns a total of 1.48 million Penn shares, or about 1% of the company, according to a regulatory filing . According to Portnoy, his shares in Penn became vested when the company reached its agreement this week to license the ESPN brand for its online betting and sportsbook operations. “I still own them.

Why did Penn sell Barstool for $1? ›

Penn is set to lose between $800 million-$850 million on the deal, which the company had originally hoped would boost its sports betting business by tying into one of the most recognizable brands in sports media. Instead, Barstool appeared to create more problems than they anticipated, souring things.

Portnoy sold Barstool to PENN Entertainment in a two-part sale — the latter transaction having just closed in February of this year — for $551 million. Now, he gets this site back for just $1.

While The Hero of This Book is a novel, it's also highly autobiographical, playing with the line between fiction and reality in a way none of Elizabeth McCracken's previous work has done.

The autobiographical novel, a mixture of truth and fiction, lies somewhere in the middle of the spectrum. It's truthful in the sense that the author remains the protagonist, and most of the other characters are either real or strongly based on real people and what they've said and done.

Whilst none of these novels are autobiographical, Strout has described the Lucy Barton books as 'a risk – not least because I made Lucy a writer'. Indeed the title My Name is Lucy Barton introduced an initial layer of confusion as some literal-minded readers assumed it was a memoir.

The average reader will spend 4 hours and 49 minutes reading this book at 250 WPM (words per minute).