Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories
The beginning of Roth's published career and an introduction to his early short fiction.
Author guide
Philip Roth Books in Order
Philip Milton Roth (1933–2018) was an American writer from Newark, New Jersey. He established his reputation with Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short Stories (1959), and became internationally prominent with Portnoy's Complaint (1969). His fiction repeatedly examines American identity, Jewish American experience, sexuality, aging, politics, and the unstable boundary between autobiography and invention. Nathan Zuckerman and David Kepesh recur across several major works. Roth also published memoirs, literary essays, interviews, and nonfiction, and received the National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize, PEN/Faulkner Awards, and other major honors.
literary fictionsatireJewish American literaturepsychological fictionmemoiressays
Not sure where to begin?
Start with one of these
Portnoy's Complaint
A landmark standalone comic novel and his most famous early work.
The Ghost Writer
The natural starting point for the Zuckerman sequence.
American Pastoral
The opening of the American Trilogy and a major entry to Roth's later fiction.
Read in order
Books by series
series · complete
Zuckerman series
The sequence of works centered on or framed by Nathan Zuckerman, including the four books commonly associated with Zuckerman Bound and the later Zuckerman novels.
- 1 The Ghost WriterAmazon ↗
Book 1 · novel · 1979
- 2
Zuckerman UnboundAmazon ↗Book 2 · novel · 1981
- 3
The Anatomy LessonAmazon ↗Book 3 · novel · 1983
- 4
The Prague OrgyAmazon ↗Book 4 · novella · 1985
- 5
The CounterlifeAmazon ↗Book 5 · novel · 1986
- 6 American PastoralAmazon ↗
Book 6 · novel · 1997
- 7
I Married a CommunistAmazon ↗Book 7 · novel · 1998
- 8
The Human StainAmazon ↗Book 8 · novel · 2000
- 9 Exit GhostAmazon ↗
Book 9 · novel · 2007
series · complete
David Kepesh series
The sequence of works featuring David Kepesh at different stages of his life.
trilogy · complete
American Trilogy
The loosely connected trilogy examining American political and cultural life through Nathan Zuckerman's narration.
series · complete
Nemeses
Roth's late sequence of four short novels dealing with mortality, illness, historical catastrophe, and individual responsibility.
Outside the series
Bibliography by category
Novels (10)
-
Letting GoAmazon ↗novel · 1962
-
When She Was GoodAmazon ↗novel · 1967
- Portnoy's ComplaintAmazon ↗
novel · 1969
-
Our Gang (Starring Tricky and His Friends)Amazon ↗novel · 1971
-
The Great American NovelAmazon ↗novel · 1973
-
My Life as a ManAmazon ↗novel · 1974
- Deception: A NovelAmazon ↗
novel · 1990
-
Operation Shylock: A ConfessionAmazon ↗novel · 1993
-
Sabbath's TheaterAmazon ↗novel · 1995
-
The Plot Against AmericaAmazon ↗novel · 2004
Nonfiction (2)
Short fiction (1)
- Goodbye, Columbus and Five Short StoriesAmazon ↗
short-story-collection · 1959
