Why people recommend it
Letting Go is the first full-length novel by Philip Roth, exploring the complicated romantic, academic, and professional entanglements of young intellectuals in the American Midwest and New York during the nineteen-fifties. On The Book Review podcast, the novel was evaluated as a transitional phase in the celebrated author's literary career. During the July 2024 episode titled Dinosaurs, the Master of Horror and Philip Roth, Tony Scott discussed the books Roth wrote between Goodbye, Columbus and Portnoy's Complaint, categorizing Letting Go alongside When She Was Good as part of the author's more buttoned-up and respectable literary output. In the same month, during the episode featuring Blake Bailey on Writing His Life of Philip Roth, biographer Blake Bailey offered a harsher assessment. Bailey critiqued Letting Go directly, calling the novel insufferable except for specific comedic set pieces where Roth's signature humor shone through. These contrasting reflections provided podcast listeners with a nuanced look at Roth's early development as a novelist, balancing academic categorization with sharp critical appraisal of his stylistic evolution.
Who recommended it
- Tony Scott Discussed
- Blake Bailey Discussed
Tony Scott — 1 mention
“the two novels between goodbye Columbus and por no's complaint when she was good and and letting go are sort of his buttoned up respectable literary”
Blake Bailey — 1 mention
“and he wrote letting go and letting go is insufferable except for those set pieces where he's being funny”