My Life As a Man (Vintage International)

Rating:
Summary: vintage roth
Review: I promise to keep this review short because I know there is nothing more unpleasant than a long review...did he like, or not like the book?....Yes, this book is a masterpiece: this is early-middle Roth when he is just starting to discover himself as a man and a writer...A must read for anyone thinking about becoming a writer.

Rating:
Summary: Inside of an abusive relationship
Review: I really hate those reviews that say "if a man wrote this..." or "if you said the same thing about Jews, Catholics, etc." So I won't say that. This is an abusive relationship that you tend not to hear about - with the exception of Phil Hartman's marriage - where the woman abuses the husband. While most of the time she doesn't outright hit him, the fear and intimidation that she perpetrates makes him into a shaky wreck.

Philip Roth tries to make this as manic as possible, but it keeps falling into the sense of entrapment and pain. While most of the book concerns the protagonist trying to get out of the relationship either emotionally or physically, you see him being pulled back in by his own lack of self-esteem and his stupid decisions. The scenes with Dr. Spievogel are great as the doctor both knows enough to help a little, but not enough to provide a cure for him.

Toward the end when the wife finally kills herself Roth tries to give some sympathy to the woman, but he's spent 100s of pages describing what a hell it is to live with her. You feel both sympathy and revulsion at this sordid marriage.

This is a good book, but it's a depressing book full of pathos. Just as the main character is trapped in this marriage, you feel trapped along with him. Eventually that wears on you and you need to read something light afterwards.

Rating:
Summary: Genius, but very bitter
Review: Much of Roth's later obsession with the boundaries between fiction and fact are evident in this book. FIrst we read two short stories--one funny, one more bitter, but both dark. Then we learn the two short stories are those of a struggling author who has fallen into the depths of depression after a difficult relationship. OF course the narrator pulls no punches--he is a hater of women, though I'm not sure that we are meant to take his view of the world as a given. Clearly he is messed up--even his psychologist thinks so, though the books also bashes the idea that a psychoanalyst is an impartial judge. This is fascinating, at times disturbing stuff, but well worth it. And I still love my wife.

Rating:
Summary: Genius, but very bitter
Review: Much of Roth's later obsession with the boundaries between fiction and fact are evident in this book. FIrst we read two short stories--one funny, one more bitter, but both dark. Then we learn the two short stories are those of a struggling author who has fallen into the depths of depression after a difficult relationship. OF course the narrator pulls no punches--he is a hater of women, though I'm not sure that we are meant to take his view of the world as a given. Clearly he is messed up--even his psychologist thinks so, though the books also bashes the idea that a psychoanalyst is an impartial judge. This is fascinating, at times disturbing stuff, but well worth it. And I still love my wife.

Rating:
Summary: Searing, bitter fiction based on Roth's first marriage.
Review: Philip Roth's sixth novel, "My Life as a Man," first appeared in 1974, after the author spent several years trying to use the material of his first marriage (to one Margaret Martinson) in a fictionalized setting. Readers of Roth's autobiography, "The Facts" (1988), know that his brief cohabitation and extensive legal battles with Martinson were harrowing enough to leave psychological wounds the author continued to lick for decades following her death in a car accident. "My Life as a Man," according to "The Facts," was a book that took an enormous toll, both artistic and emotional, on the author. But it's a good thing he was able to write it, because what we have is a tremendously gripping, chilling, bitter and often hilarious look at the dark side of "romantic" relationships.

The first section of the book, entitled "Useful Fictions," includes two stories "by Tarnopol" documenting his carefree childhood and eventual entanglement with the psychopathic "Lydia." Then the novel itself starts, under the title "My True Story." What follows is enough to make anyone feel fortunate for a) being single or b) having a stable relationship. Martinson, who was "Lydia" in the first section, is here renamed "Maureen," and is one of the most unforgettable women in American literature. Self-loathing, neurotic, violent, manic-depressive, grasping, hateful and literally insane, her relentless attempts to control and keep "Tarnopol" (Roth) are what gives these pages such intensity. Her hatred for Tarnopol and his hatred for her make this book unputdownable. Reading "The Facts," one learns that much, if not most, of what occurs here actually took place in real life. No wonder Roth has "women issues" (or so the critics always say).

This remains one of Roth's most intelligent, finely crafted books. His use of dialogue is virtually unparalleled in modern fiction, and his sentences are as chiselled and graceful as one would expect of an artist of his caliber. In short, "My Life as a Man," though not the most uplifting book of our time, is an extraordinary (and extraordinarily bleak) accomplishment.

Rating:
Summary: vintage roth
Review: This guy I was interested in had told me that this was one of his favorite books and better at describing his life as a Jewish man than Portnoy's Complaint. Now, I had read Portnoy's Complaint in college, thought it was funny, touching, but it definitely had moments of misogyny. My Life As A Man, however, seems mostly sad with more unrealistic portraits of women. Obviously, I don't know Philip Roth personally, so it's not for me to say if it's autobiographical or not, but there is a lot of pain that comes from male-female relationships gone wrong in this text. The women in the book are crazy, neurotic "shiksas" who go out of their way to drive Peter Tarnapol to a breakdown. On one hand, Peter has his lying, manipulative wife, and the other, his neurotic, needy girlfriend. I always feel that Roth's female characters do not represent real women, and although I dislike labels, I put this book down when done and thought "what a bunch of misogynistic crap." A good study of dysfunctional relationships, but I don't feel like Peter ever really reaches into his soul to figure out why he gets involved with the wrong women. Obviously not something to structure your life around, nevertheless, this book was a interesting read. Roth has an excellent command of the English language.