Zuckerman Unbound

After Carnovsky

Philip Roth's novel "Zuckerman Bound" tells the story of novelist Nathan Zuckerman in the immediate aftermath of Zuckerman's great popular success with his novel, "Carnovsky". Roth's novel is the second of three novels and an epilogue dealing with the life of Zuckerman which Roth would group together as "Zuckerman Bound". The novels each have strongly autobiographical components, but it would be a mistake to consider Zuckerman as a simple stand-in or alter ego for Roth.

Told in the third person narrative voice, "Zuckerman Bound" is set largely in New York City in 1969 during the early part of the Nixon presidency. The violence and protests of the Vietnam era form an important backdrop to the book. Zuckerman's book sounds much like Roth's own novel "Portnoy's Complaint" which brought him notoriety, wealth, and fame. In discussing the writer's life and the writer's relationship to his characters, the book uses a mirroring effect. There is first Philip Roth, his relationship to his novel, "Portnoy's Complaint" and his relationship to the character he created, Zuckerman. Then, there is the character, Zuckerman, and his relationship to his fictitious novel "Carnovsky". At one point in the book Zuckerman reads a draft review of "Carnovsky" for a character who, among other things, is a wanna be writer and reviewer; and critiques it for the benefit of both character and reader.

This book is entertaining and relatively straightforward to read. There are long ranting speeches and scenes and much detail about persons and places. Yet the book is also highly serious. Roth explores the nature of the writer's life and the isolation it requires and enforces. The book also is a story of background and family, of the difficulty in any life in setting out on one's own. In the novel, Zuckerman tries to understand his search for independence through reflections on "Carnovsky" on his family, on his hometown of Newark, New Jersey,on his three failed marriages, and on his Jewishness.

"Carnovsky" became famous because of its blunt exploration of male sexuality and sexual frustration, rare in a novel of the time. While higly popular, the novel drew criticism for its portrayal of American Jewish life and for its portrayal of what were thought to be intimate details of the lives of Carnovsky's family. These factors reach back, of course, to Roth and to "Portnoy's Complaint." Zuckerman in the novel must fight off both adoring fans and threatening critics.

The first part of the book develops Zuckerman's relationship with a fan, Alvin Pepler, who appears out of the blue. Pepler is based upon a historical character who appeared on the corrupt television quiz shows of the 1950s. He bothers Zuckerman about his own writing, including the draft review mentioned earlier. He is a comic character. Zuckerman also has a short affair with a famous actress and shows regret over the collapse of his third marriage.

The focus of the book pivots to Zuckerman's aged parents who have retired to Florida. His hardworking father has been in a nursing home for four years and in his last breath curses his wayward son for his attitude towards Judaism and towards family. The book develops Zuckerman's relationship with his younger brother, Henry, who acted responsibly in his parents' eyes by becoming a dentist and by marrying a college sweetheart, and with his mother. Zuckermann comes to both a greater degree of understanding of his own family with the death of his father and, if possible, to a greater degree of distancing.

Besides being the story of a novel and of a novelist writing about a novelist, Zuckerman's story is developed through a wealth of literary allusions. They include Aristotle, Kierkegaard, Freud, James Joyce, Mary Mapes Dodge (author of "Hans Brinkner and the Silver Skates"), and Thomas Wolfe, among others. Franz Kafka, in his tormented life and writing, plays a large role. Zuckerman quotes Kafka at a critical moment: "I believe that we should read only those books that bite and sting us. If a book we are reading does not arouse us with a blow to the head, then why read it?" So too, with the provocations and anguish of Zuckerman's "Carnovsky" and Roth's "Portnoy".

With all its humor and irreverence, "Zuckerman' Unbound" is a coming of age story for adults.

Robin Friedman