Exit Ghost
by Philip Roth
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Book Reviews of Exit Ghost
Book Review: If you haven't read any of Philip Roth's other Zuckerman novels
Summary: 5 Stars
Especially The Ghost Writer, or all four included in Zuckerman Bound, this novel won't have the same charms. In Exit Ghost, Roth's favored narrator returns to New York, in 2004, after 11 years of self-imposed exile in the Berkshires, and through a couple of chance encounters and impulsive decisions he finds himself confronting his past - people, longings, lusts, literary mysteries/secrets. The tone is consistent and reliable throughout but as a statement about mortality it is not as complete or well-written as last year's Everyman; it's more of a swift capstone to the other 8 Zuckerman novels, a last update. Perhaps the novel's most sincere episode is what amounts to an eulogy for George Plimpton, which juxtaposes the manners of living of two writers, Plimpton, who rolled up his sleeves and faced down as much of life as he could, and Zuckerman himself, who has been hiding from it. Zuckerman's near-constant - and distasteful - descriptions of his urinary/impotence problems and an equally tedious dwelling on the 2004 election serve as an over-beaten metaphor for his loss of vitality and hope. Also, if you missed reading Tino Georgiou's masterpiece--The Fates, go and read it. I'm reading it at a rapid pace because it's so addictive. There is something about his books that bring you in and get you hooked. and I'm loving this one. Highly Recommend!Book Review: Lifeless, Often Dull, Coda to Nathan Zuckerman's Life and Career
Summary: 1 Stars
Having come across both Nathan Zuckerman - Philip Roth's fictional alter ego - and Roth's other work for years, I was eagerly awaiting "Exit Ghost" as the final chapter in Zuckerman's "life". What a final chapter it is, since it is more like a leisurely descent into a tedious half-hearted love affair between Zuckerman and a young Harvard-educated writer who is married to yet another young writer. While Roth still excells in writing fascinating dialogue and crisp prose, there's not much of a story to hang onto here, except for Zuckerman's precarious health, romantic fling, and an unexpected odyssey to look anew at the career of one of his mentors.
Roth incorporates in passing, much of the current cultural and political landscape, making obligatory nods to 9/11, the War on Terror and the 2004 presidential election. But, these are mere "obligatory nods", not thoughtful commentary on the state of our society as I have seen, for example, from acclaimed science fiction writer William Gibson in his recent novels "Pattern Recognition" and "Spook Country" (Indeed who would have thought that Roth's importance as a fictional commentator of our time would be overtaken by the very man who coined the term "cyberspace"?). Forget Zuckerman and Roth, unless you wish to read Roth's compelling alternate history novel, "The Plot Against America".
Book Review: Exit Zuckerman
Summary: 4 Stars
If you haven't read any of Philip Roth's other Zuckerman novels, especially The Ghost Writer, or all four included in Zuckerman Bound, this novel won't have the same charms. In Exit Ghost, Roth's favored narrator returns to New York, in 2004, after 11 years of self-imposed exile in the Berkshires, and through a couple of chance encounters and impulsive decisions he finds himself confronting his past - people, longings, lusts, literary mysteries/secrets.
The tone is consistent and reliable throughout but as a statement about mortality it is not as complete or well-written as last year's Everyman; it's more of a swift capstone to the other 8 Zuckerman novels, a last update.
Perhaps the novel's most sincere episode is what amounts to an eulogy for George Plimpton, which juxtaposes the manners of living of two writers, Plimpton, who rolled up his sleeves and faced down as much of life as he could, and Zuckerman himself, who has been hiding from it. Zuckerman's near-constant - and distasteful - descriptions of his urinary/impotence problems and an equally tedious dwelling on the 2004 election serve as an over-beaten metaphor for his loss of vitality and hope.
For fans of Roth's Zuckerman novels, Exit Ghost is a pleasure to read, but I was left wanting more.
Book Review: Rehabilitation by disgrace
Summary: 5 Stars
The hero hasn't been in the city for eleven years. He lives on a rural mountain road in the Berkshires. He is to go to NYC for a medical consultation.
Nathan Zuckerman seems obedient to his neighbor Larry's discipline. He eats with the family, goes out to dinner with them, and accepts, as a gift, two kittens. Larry has broken in upon Nathan's austere and lonely regimen. Even after Larry's suicide, Nathan is willing to follow his dictate, not to be alone.
Possibilities for company emerge by being in New York. First he goes to the Strand to buy Lonoff's short stories. (Lonoff's career and works have been one of Nathan's longstanding preoccupations.) Next Nathan Zuckerman answers an ad in THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF BOOKS for a house exchange and meets a young couple. He learns that E.I. Lonoff's friend, companion, Amy Bellette has brain cancer. Eventually he sees her.
In the end the issue of how an aged writer of fiction positions himself emerges. In the matter of potency, imagination is driven by an inner force; but what happens when there is a failure of memory? To safeguard creative products it is necessary to beat back menaces from journalism and other spheres.
The book is vigorous, suitably dense, impressively lively.
Book Review: A WORTHY FINAL VOLUME...
Summary: 5 Stars
The publication of Exit Ghost has forced me to read the chronicles of Nathan Zuckerman out of order (I'm up to The Counterlife, with The Human Stain thrown in). I am very glad I did, however. This final volume of the Zuckerman saga is meant to bookend with the first volume. (Get it? The Ghost Writer vs. Exit Ghost?) That is the only other Zuckerman novel that really informs this one. The story concerns an unpleasant biographer, Richard Kliman, who wants to write a salacious biography of E.I. Lonoff. Kliman is everything Zuckerman is not - young, strong, good-looking, and sexually potent. He is also untalented. His appearance forces Zuckerman to once again meet with Amy Bellette.
As Roth points out in his [...] audio interview, the last few Zuckerman novels have moved him to the sidelines, as simply the narrator of the stories. Here, for the final volume, the focus is once again on him. The New York Times complained that the story was a bit slight, but I did not find that to be the case. I enjoy Roth when he focuses on small stories that take place over a short amount of time. I was not a fan of Everyman, but this is Roth returning to his true form. We get a glimpse of Zuckerman at the end of his life. It may not be pleasant, but it is authentic.