ABSTRACT
Two weeks before his book Portnoy’s Complaint hit the stands, Ron told me, Philip Roth alerted his parents. “Look. My book is coming out in a few weeks and I’m already hearing from my agent that it’s going to make a fast splash. It’s about a family that sounds like ours and it’s got some very raunchy material in it. I want you to know this now because it’s getting a lot of press and your friends are going to talk.” On the drive back to Newark, Roth’s mother started to hyperventilate and his father shouted at her, “Calm down. So what if people talk?” Roth’s mother yelled back, “People talk? Who cares about that? Did you hear him? Our son has delusions of grandeur?”
