"In my mind, I'm the biggest sex maniac you ever saw."

That quote was first uttered by boy protagonist Holden Caulfield in J.D. Salinger's iconic portrait of teen angst, Catcher in the Rye, but it also sounds like something Alexander Portnoy would tell his psychologist. Portnoy is the putz-pulling anti-hero of Portnoy's Complaint, Phillip Roth’s 1969 coming-of-age story. And like Holden, he goes to lengths to free himself from the life plan his parents envision for him.

The friend who recommended Portnoy's Complaint to me described the book as “primarily about masturbation,” and if anything that’s an understatement. But I also think this description misses some of the tragedy in Alex Portnoy’s cheeky, indignant 300-page rant—the rant of a self-hating, New Jersey Jew who grows up dreading his perfection-seeking parents and fetishizing every “shikse goddess” he meets.

Now, Roth is “putting the id back in yid,” again, with his newly released novel Indignation, garnering comparisons to Complaint. This time the indignant Jewish boy is Marcus Messner, a sophomore at a conservative Ohio college, but the last place you would find him is waiting in line with Portnoy’s friends for a blow-job. He describes himself as diligent and responsible, “the nicest boy in the world.” But like Portnoy, who is an effortless straight-A student despite his secret obsessions, Messner’s two goals are to become valedictorian and lose his virginity.

Most interesting about the novel to me is that it’s set during the protagonist’s sophomore year of college, and shares his regrets from beyond the grave. (Not much of a spoiler, but you learn around page 54 that Messner is dead.) It gets me feeling a little fatalistic about my second year of college, because there’s still so much to accomplish.

David Gates gave a meandering review of the book in the NY Times Book Review last Sunday, which can be found here.

Here Roth talks with the Wall Street Journal about naming the book:

WSJ: "Indignation" could be the title of nearly every book you've written. How do you view the indignant?
Mr. Roth: I wouldn't say every book, but I get your meaning. I think people are full of indignation. They walk the streets in indignation, ride the subways with indignation. It's a common, human motive. Do you think I'll get complaints from the indignant?

Predictably it is Marcus's sense of outrage to drive the novel forward, and toward his death.

A fantastic quote by the college's dean of students, after a frat-scene gone awry: "Beyond your dormitories, a world is on fire and you are kindled by underwear."


If anyone reads Indignation, please let me know what you think!