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Goodbye, Columbus

Goodbye, ColumbusAnd Five Short Stories

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Written by

Philip Roth

Narrated by

Jerry Zaks

Harlan Ellison

John Rubinstein

Elliott Gould

Theodore Bikel

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Audiobook Download Information

Edition:
Unabridged (Phoenix Audio)
Length:
8 hours, 17 minutes
File Size:
228 MB (179 files)
Published:
July 2006

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Summary

Roth's debut book, a novella and short stories about Jews in contemporary America, won a National Book Award in 1959 and established him as an important writer. While his insight into the Jewish-American experience won him a large audience, his realistic characterizations alienated many American Jews, who considered him anti-Semitic--a description that outraged Roth, and that he has felt compelled to address periodically throughout his career.

Quotes from the Critics

"Mr. Roth's novella is a somewhat incongruous mingling of conventional boy-meets-girl material and portrait-of-the- intellectual-as-a-young-man, narrated with an occasional fondness for clinical detail....Such a summary, however, does justice neither to the author nor to his people; out of such hackneyed materials Mr. Roth has written a perceptive, often witty and frequently moving piece of fiction. He is a good story-teller, a shrewd appraiser of character and a keen recorder of an indecisive generation." - New York Times Book Review

"'Goodbye, Columbus' is a first book, but it is not the book of a beginner. Unlike those of us who came howling into the world, blind and bare, Mr. Roth appears with nails, hair, and teeth. At twenty-six he is skillful, witty, and energetic and performs like a virtuoso." - Contemporary

"What many writers spend a lifetime searching for--a unique voice, a secure rhythm, a distinctive subject--seem to have come to Philip Roth totally and immediately...Mr. Roth's stories do not yield pleasure as much as produce a squirm of recognition: surely, one feels, not all of American Jewish life is like this, but all too much of it is becoming so...Like so many other young writers these day, he has quickly absorbed the lessons of modern craftsmanship, perhaps a bit too quickly." - New Republic

"Rare combination of talent, verve, and perception...quite wonderful." - San Francisco Chronicle

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