Books: A Sex Novel of the Absurd

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In 1967 he published When She Was Good, a bleak dissection of a smalltown Midwestern termagant without a single Jewish character. It was a long way from Newark and the Jewish milieu, but Roth's ventriloqual genius enabled him to handle the unfamiliar setting with considerable success.

Catching On. Roth is an enthusiastic mimic. "He takes all the parts in every story and really makes you see the people. He is the best storyteller I know," says Novelist Brian Moore. Lately he has become more wary. "I would call him a manic repressive," says Writer Albert Goldman, an old friend. "He knows he could be rocketed too high—the new hero who is all brains and sex. Actually, he is probably happiest working in monastic solitude." In recent years he has lived in Manhattan, a dashing, dark-featured bachelor with a beautiful blonde at his side. But now he is back in Yaddo, working on a new book.

Where he goes from here is an intriguing question, and could prove a serious dilemma for him. There is quite a difference between letting go and catching on, and with Portnoy's Complaint, Roth has caught on, but good. He has said that he will write about catching on:

"Instead of having a guy who is more and more pursued and trapped by his tormentors, I want to start with a guy tormented and then the opposite happens. They come to the jail and they open the door and they say to you, 'A terrible mistake has been made.' And they give you your suit back, with your glasses and your wallet. And they say, 'Look, people from big magazines are going to come and write stories on you. And here's some money. And we're very sorry about this.' "