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My first Philip Roth novel.

I listened to it on audio. If you don't think that counts, I understand. I personally think that if it invalidates my opinion, it isn't by much. I think in this case, my basic reaction would have been the same, whether viewed with the eye or listened with the ear.

I've heard passionate arguments for and against Philip Roth here on goodreads for quite some time now. He's one of only a handful of modern-day American writers with boatloads of awards and a strong literary reputation. This is indisputable. If you go to you'll see that six -- count them, SIX -- of his novels are in The NY Times "Best Work of American Fiction of the Last 25 Years" report.

That's very impressive.

Needless to say, I've been jonesing to get my hands on his work.

And after experiencing this, I'm wondering how he has this glowing reputation. Everyman bored me like no novel has in months. It didn't capture my imagination in the least, and at best, only tickled my intellectual curiosity. It was utterly predictable and lacked heavily in both creativity, and passion.

It's about a man getting old in age, facing the prospect of death, looking back on his life, mostly with regret. His failures include cheating on his wife with both his secretary, and with a model half his age. He is afraid of Al-Qaeda after 9/11, and moves out of the city fearing another attack. Neither his regrets -- which are all familiar ones, such as not spending enough time with family -- nor his thoughts about death, are in the least bit novel or interesting.

I also got a feeling that this novel was self serving, like Roth got-off while writing this, falling in love with his descriptions, trying to sound smart. But phrases like "“vitriolic despondency" don't impress me. In fact, they irritate me. To add to that affect, he overplayed the sex theme in all the tired ways, without any spark or flair.

Roth's attempt here is an admirable one in that he faces the issue of old age and death, head-on. But Everyman seemed so forced and play-by-the-book, it was like a high school student wrote the plot. I realize that that's part of Roth's point. With the protagonist not having a name, just being "everyman", the story isn't supposed to come to life. It's supposed to represent the fact that we are all going to have to face, and struggle with, death -- and that it's not pretty. And the topic of death -- when written of with heart, depth, and an appreciation for some of life's magic -- can be capturing to read about. But the affect this had on me was a state of depression, and a general confusion as to Roth's iconic status.

Wondering what I was missing about Roth, I checked to see if this novel was one of the six on the NY Times list I shared earlier. It is not. In fact, what I found was this: "In the course of Everyman Mr. Roth captures the more depressing aspects of aging....But these harrowing evocations of age and infirmity do not a novel make. This book often reads like a laundry list of complaints about the human condition." - Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

So maybe the Times is right about Roth. Maybe this is just one of his worst books. I won't give up on him yet, but I have to admit that my one Philip Roth experience was not a positive one.