Zuckerman Unbound
Encyclopedia
Nathan Zuckerman
The novel resumes the story of Roth's fictional alter ego Nathan ZuckermanNathan Zuckerman
Nathan Zuckerman is a fictional character who appears as the narrator or protagonist of many of Philip Roth's works of fiction.-Character:...
that was inaugurated by Roth's previous novel The Ghost Writer
The Ghost Writer
The Ghost Writer is the first novel by Philip Roth to be narrated by Nathan Zuckerman, one of Roth's alter egos, and constitutes the first book in his Zuckerman Bound trilogy. The novel touches on themes common to many Roth works, including identity, the responsibilities of authors to their...
.
Themes
Like much of Roth's fiction, Zuckerman Unbound confronts the tenuous relationship between an author and his creations.Quiz show scandals
The novel—through its supporting cast—explores the quiz show scandalsQuiz show scandals
The American quiz show scandals of the 1950s were a series of revelations that contestants of several popular television quiz shows were secretly given assistance by the show's producers to arrange the outcome of a supposedly fair competition....
of the 1950s, which also form the basis for Robert Redford's
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
1994 drama Quiz Show. In Roth's novel, Herb Stempel
Herb Stempel
Herbert Milton "Herb" Stempel is a television game show contestant and subsequent whistle blower on the fraudulent nature of the industry, in what became known as the quiz show scandals...
and Charles Van Doren
Charles Van Doren
Charles Lincoln Van Doren is an American intellectual, writer, and editor who was involved in a television quiz show scandal in the 1950s...
—played in the Redford film by, respectively, John Turturro
John Turturro
John Michael Turturro is an American actor, writer and director known for his roles in the films Do the Right Thing , Miller's Crossing , Barton Fink , Quiz Show , The Big Lebowski , O Brother, Where Art Thou? and the Transformers film series...
and Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Nathaniel Twisleton-Wykeham-Fiennes is an English actor and film director. He has appeared in such films as The English Patient, In Bruges, The Constant Gardener, Strange Days, The Duchess and Schindler's List....
—are called Alvin Pepler and Hewlett Lincoln.
Plot summary
The novel parallels several real events in Roth's life, including the publication of his 1969 novel Portnoy's ComplaintPortnoy's Complaint
Portnoy's Complaint is the American novel that turned its author Philip Roth into a major celebrity, sparking a storm of controversy over its explicit and candid treatment of sexuality, including detailed depictions of masturbation using various props including a piece of liver...
and the hoopla which surrounded Roth in the wake of that novel's fame. By analogy, in Zuckerman Unbound, Zuckerman has achieved meteoric acclaim and notoriety with "Carnovsky", a coming-of-age sex romp that differs remarkably from Zuckerman's previously Jamesian fiction. The extent to which the details of the Zuckerman character can be safely compared to those of Roth has been a subject of zealous debate among Roth's readers. Roth himself has weighed in on the debate, both in interviews and within his fiction.
Zuckerman BoundZuckerman BoundZuckerman Bound is a trilogy of novels by Philip Roth, originally published in 1985.-Plot:Each of the books follows the struggles and writing career of Roth's novelist alter ego Nathan Zuckerman.-Contents:The bound trilogy consists of:...
The first and last books in the initial Zuckerman trilogy are 1979's The Ghost WriterThe Ghost Writer
The Ghost Writer is the first novel by Philip Roth to be narrated by Nathan Zuckerman, one of Roth's alter egos, and constitutes the first book in his Zuckerman Bound trilogy. The novel touches on themes common to many Roth works, including identity, the responsibilities of authors to their...
and 1983's The Anatomy Lesson. The three were collected and republished in 1985 as Zuckerman Bound
Zuckerman Bound
Zuckerman Bound is a trilogy of novels by Philip Roth, originally published in 1985.-Plot:Each of the books follows the struggles and writing career of Roth's novelist alter ego Nathan Zuckerman.-Contents:The bound trilogy consists of:...
.
Critical reception
Critic John LahrJohn Lahr
John Lahr is an American theater critic, and the son of actor Bert Lahr. Since 1992, he has been the senior drama critic at The New Yorker magazine.-Biography:...
, in New York Magazine, called the novel "fascinating." In Time, R. Z. Sheppard praised Roth's "comic genius." In The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review
The New York Times Book Review is a weekly paper-magazine supplement to The New York Times in which current non-fiction and fiction books are reviewed. It is one of the most influential and widely read book review publications in the industry. The offices are located near Times Square in New York...
, critic Harold Bloom said of the three collected Zuckerman novels, "'Zuckerman Bound' merits something reasonably close to the highest level of esthetic praise for tragicomedy."
See Also
- Quiz show scandalsQuiz show scandalsThe American quiz show scandals of the 1950s were a series of revelations that contestants of several popular television quiz shows were secretly given assistance by the show's producers to arrange the outcome of a supposedly fair competition....
- Quiz Show (1994)
- Herb StempelHerb StempelHerbert Milton "Herb" Stempel is a television game show contestant and subsequent whistle blower on the fraudulent nature of the industry, in what became known as the quiz show scandals...
- Zuckerman BoundZuckerman BoundZuckerman Bound is a trilogy of novels by Philip Roth, originally published in 1985.-Plot:Each of the books follows the struggles and writing career of Roth's novelist alter ego Nathan Zuckerman.-Contents:The bound trilogy consists of:...