Jewish Wise Guys: Bad Jewish Boys Assault the Polite World
Explore rebellious Jewish protagonists in literature with Jewish Wise Guys, featuring Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis and Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint, plus more bad boys assaulting polite society.
Book
Portnoy's Complaint
by Philip Roth
The groundbreaking novel from the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Pastoral that originally propelled its author to literary stardom: told in a continuous monologue from patient to psychoanalyst, this masterpiece draws us into the turbulent mind of one lust-ridden young Jewish bachelor named Alexander Portnoy. One of The Atlantic’s Great American Novels of the Past 100 Years “Deliciously funny . . . absurd and exuberant, wild and uproarious . . . a brilliantly vivid reading experience”—The New York Times Book Review “Touching as well as hilariously lewd . . . Roth is vibrantly talented”—New York Review of Books Portnoy's Complaint 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.
Book
The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
by Franz Kafka
Superb collection by modern master explores the complexity, anxiety, and futility of modern life. Excellent new English translations of the title story — considered by many critics Kafka's most perfect work — plus "The Judgment," "In the Penal Colony," "A Country Doctor" and "A Report to an Academy." A selection of the Common Core State Standards Initiative.
