Patrimony, Philip Roth
Patrimony, Philip Roth
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Patrimony
A True Story

Author: Philip Roth

Narrator: Malcolm Hillgartner

Unabridged: 5 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/31/2016

Synopsis

Patrimony, a true story, touches the emotions as strongly as anything Philip Roth has ever written. Roth watches as his eighty-six-year-old father—famous for his vigor, his charm, and his repertoire of Newark recollections—battles with the brain tumor that will kill him. The son, full of love, anxiety, and dread, accompanies his father through each fearful stage of his final ordeal, and, as he does so, discloses the survivalist tenacity that has distinguished his father’s long, stubborn engagement with life. Philip Roth is hailed by many as the reigning king of American fiction. Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award, this memoir about love, survival, and memory is one of his most intimate books, but also one of his most intellectually vigorous. Patrimony is Roth’s elegy to his father, written with piercing observation and wit at the height of his literary prowess.

About Philip Roth

Philip Roth (1933–2018) was one of the most decorated writers in American history, having won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award twice, the PEN/Faulkner Award three times, the National Book Award, and many more. He also won the Ambassador Book Award of the English-Speaking Union and in the same year received the National Medal of Arts at the White House. In 2001 he received the highest award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Gold Medal in Fiction, given every six years “for the entire work of the recipient.”

About Malcolm Hillgartner

Malcolm Hillgartner is an accomplished actor, writer, and musician. Named an AudioFile Best Voice of 2013 and the recipient of several Earphones Awards, he has narrated over 250 audiobooks.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Valeriu on February 04, 2025

Neîndoielnic, cea mai bună carte pe care am citit-o anul trecut. M-am întrebat, bineînțeles, cît de adevărată aceste această poveste și am încercat să verific identitatea personajelor. Doar unul singur mi se pare inventat (sau ascuns sub un pseudonim): Walter Herrmann, insul exhibiționist, care preti......more

Goodreads review by Michael on June 21, 2022

Personally, I was a little devastated to learn of Roth's death...without a Nobel for Literature, especially. I think that based on books like Portnoy's Complaint, American Pastoral, Sabbath's Theater, The Human Stain, and this one, Patrimony, he was head and shoulders over many of his contemporaries......more

Goodreads review by Emilio on January 14, 2020

Il padre Dire troppo, in letteratura e nell'arte in generale, rappresenta un grosso limite. E' di gran lunga preferibile il troppo poco, che può invece aprire porte all'immaginazione, al fascino della sfumatura, alla ricchezza delle interpretazioni. Qui sia chiaro, l'autore si attesta a un discreto l......more

Goodreads review by William2 on March 10, 2023

Excellent. The writing is very flat, unadorned. This memoir's mostly the straightforward story of the author and his very colorful Jewish father. There's a special focus on the father's last days when he's battling a brain tumor, and all the decisions the family has to face given a very dire prognos......more

Goodreads review by Enrique on June 19, 2024

Podría haber hecho esta reseña con la lectura de la primera página de este libro, bueno realmente creo que el 90% de mis comentarios están realizados con las ideas que se formaron al leer esa primera página. Me explico, no trato de ser pretencioso: en esa primera página Roth hace dos referencias a su......more

Quotes

“In a cunningly straightforward way, Patrimony tells one of the central true stories many Americans share nowadays…Such telling is a marvel of artful wit and vigor…It is the triumphant art of the literal…The gloriously pragmatic, unpredictable genius of Philip Roth’s narrative gifts.” New York Times Book Review

“A deeply resonant portrait of a father and son…Roth has looked past all comfort and condolence to find the truth—about himself and his father; about death and the fear of it; and about the absolute vulnerability to which love condemns us all.” Chicago Tribune

“A tough-minded, beautifully written memoir…It smacks of honesty and truthfulness on every page.” San Francisco Chronicle

“Even before Philip has his own terrifying brush with death in an emergency quintuple bypass operation, he realizes that his father taught and embodied ‘the vernacular, unpoetic and unexpressive and point-blank, with all the vernacular’s glaring limitations and all its durable force.’ An elegy of overwhelming horror and pity—filled with Roth’s graceful prose and narrative control, but also with a humanity sometimes missing in his other work.” Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Here is Roth…at his most humane as he pens a kaddish to his recently deceased father, Herman.” Publishers Weekly

Awards

  • Literary Hub Pick
  • National Book Critics Circle Award
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