Portnoy's Complaint

Roth, Philip

ISBN 10: 0449202917 / ISBN 13: 9780449202913

Published by Fawcett, 1984

Seller Inventory # 0449202917-4-25398723

Synopsis:

A New York lawyer, dominated by a demanding Jewish mother, plays out a sexual revenge in fact and fantasy

From the Inside Flap: mplaint n. [after Alexander Portnoy (1933- )] A disorder in which strongly-felt ethical and altruistic impulses are perpetually warring with extreme sexual longings, often of a perverse nature. Spielvogel says: 'Acts of exhibitionism, voyeurism, fetishism, auto-eroticism and oral coitus are plentiful; as a consequence of the patient's "morality," however, neither fantasy nor act issues in genuine sexual gratification, but rather in overriding feelings of shame and the dread of retribution, particularly in the form of castration.' (Spielvogel, O. "The Puzzled Penis," Internationale Zeitschrift für Psychoanalyse, Vol. XXIV, p. 909.) It is believed by Spielvogel that many of the symptoms can be traced to the bonds obtaining in the mother-child relationship.

With a new Afterword by the author for the 25th Anniversary edition.


From the Trade Paperback edition.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Portnoy's Complaint
Publisher: Fawcett
Publication Date: 1984
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Condition: Fair