One-Star Revue: Philip Roth Birthday Edition

All hail the bard of Newark! Er, maybe not, as some of these reviews would evince. PORTNOY'S COMPLAINT isn't my favorite Roth (that honor goes to THE GREAT AMERICAN NOVEL, proving that Roth was ahead of his time in self-referential titling) but it appears that some, dare I say haters, struggle to separate the creation from the man. Can't help thinking that Mr. Roth himself would have a chuckle going over these and perhaps reconsider his decision last year to retire. I love it when a plan comes together:

• "The character Alex Portnoy was not believable enough to be funny."
• "At first I thought the problem was that the book was dated, but then I remembered Nabokov and Vonnegut and Salinger and thought, wow, this writing is just simply not that great."
• "This garbage is going directly to my bird's cage." If you say this you had better produce the bird. Just saying.
• "For me who also hates Woody Allen films this is toilet humour at its worst."
• "Everything about the description of this book made me think I would love it." This isn't a terrific review on its own but the sense of entitlement is amazing. How dare you not make me love you, book?! This comment is the literary equivalent of a bro complaining about being friendzoned.
• "It appeared that Roth dictated this book and had his secretary type it up."
• "Philip Roth has to be the greatest self-loathing Jewish man alive, or at least one lucky enough to make a career out of it."