Goodbye, Columbus : And Five Short Stories (Vintage International)

Editorial Review:

Roth's award-winning first book instantly established its author's reputation as a writer of explosive wit, merciless insight, and a fierce compassion for even the most self-deluding of his characters.
Goodbye, Columbus is the story of Neil Klugman and pretty, spirited Brenda Patimkin, he of poor Newark, she of suburban Short Hills, who meet one summer break and dive into an affair that is as much about social class and suspicion as it is about love. The novella is accompanied by five short stories that range in tone from the iconoclastic to the astonishingly tender and that illuminate the subterranean conflicts between parents and children and friends and neighbors in the American Jewish diaspora.

Customer Reviews:

Avg. Customer Rating: 4.0 / 5.0

Reality:

In this initial work of Philip Roth, the characters almost seem too realistic at times. Though this is a collection of short stories, the title piece shines as the highlight of the set. Without a doubt, this is among Roth's finest works.
"Goodbye, Columbus" is an authentic tale of summer love shattered by an uncompromising society much like Romeo and Juliet. While one can doubt the strength of the young love of Neil and Brenda, the sound of young hearts breaking touches the reader. It is tale of... more info

Brilliant:

What's to say? The collection is brilliant ... as is most of his work. End of story.
This guy and Updike ... they don't get any better.

Great stories, even better if read retrospectively:

Readers starting out with Philip Roth might think this - his first book, published way back in 1959 - is the logical place to begin. But they might have a far richer experience if they come to it, as I did, after reading all of the Zuckerman novels along with "Portnoy's Complaint" and Roth's slim but insightful volume of autobiography, "The Facts". So much of Roth's work is preoccupied with what it means to be a Jewish writer that it was fascinating to read, through the lens of that half-century of history,... more info

"I sat down on my Brooks Brothers shirt and pronounced my own name out loud.":

First Love is a really wonderful novella that was the first work of Philip Roth. It was published in 1959 and won the National Book Award.
What makes it so wonderful? The quality of the prose is exceptional. It is precise and often poetic without ever using that overly precious tone from which many short story authors suffer. Roth takes careful aim at upwardly mobile Jewish life-- most of the stories in the volume look at least subtly at the internal (identity) clash that arises as Jewish families... more info

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