The Arrangement | 
panA middle-aged ad executive decides he doesn't like the person he has become and the world he inhabits, so he drops out. He's like Holden Caulfield with more experience, or Bartleby with more sex and casual racism. Problem is, he's such an awful human and such an example of the kind of thing he rails against that it's hard to sympathize. Also, he talks way too much about his penis.
This was my #BookSpinBingo read for July
@TheAromaofBooks
Ruthiella Sounds like he did well to stick more to films than novels. Though it seems also maybe middle aged men obsessed with their penis was a trend in ‘60s and ‘70s publishing (Roth, Bellow, etc.). 3y
CoveredInRust That sounds horrid. 🤮 3y
swynn @Ruthiella For my taste definitely. OTOH, this was the bestselling novel for the U.S. in 1967, so it was a huge success from that perspective (the perspective which the novel pretends to indict). As for Roth, his penis book was the bestselling novel of 1969, so I have that too look forward to. 🙄 3y
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swynn @CoveredInRust Definitely not a rec from me, though in fairness it has some funny moments: mostly laughs at the narrator's complete lack of self-awareness. 3y
Leftcoastzen I read it when I was a kid and liked it a little cuz I shouldn‘t be reading adult content like that ,Roth‘s penis book is better, but not near his Best by a long shot , oops , did I just type that ?!?😄 3y
Ruthiella @Leftcoastzen 🤣🤣🤣 3y
TheAromaofBooks Great progress!! 3y
swynn @Leftcoastzen 😄 I certainly read it at the wrong point in life. I probably would have been more receptive when I was younger. Trying to reserve judgement about the Roth. Its reputation has kept me away from it but who knows, I might become a fan 😬 3y
Leftcoastzen Also , just a thought, that many people might have Portnoy on the coffee table to be hip & never try his later novels which I feel were more significant.The sexual Revolution arrives big time when Portnoy was published(1969)Bob ,Carol,Ted & Alice the film came out that year. Not saying that it wasn‘t a sexist sexual revolution in hindsight.Writers were happy they didn‘t have to go thru censorship the same way as Miller , Joyce ,Lawrence, etc. 3y
swynn @Leftcoastzen Thanks for that insight. What would you recommend as an example of one of his better works? 3y
Leftcoastzen The Plot Against America & all the Zuckerman novels . I just really felt he nailed some significant elements of the 20th century.I think in some ways , he regretted Portnoy, even though it brought money and fame .I did really like Goodbye Columbus, his first & uneven book of short stories. 3y
swynn Thanks for that. I'll make a point to read Plot Against America. 3y
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