Everyman

By: Philip Roth

Narrated by: George Guidall

There is no more decorated American writer living today than Philip Roth, the New York Times best-selling author of American Pastoral, The Human Stain, and The Plot Against America. He has won a Pulitzer Prize, two National Book Awards, two National Book Critics Circle Awards, two PEN/Faulkner Awards, and numerous other distinctions.

The hero of Everyman is obsessed with mortality. As he reminds himself at one point, "I'm 34! Worry about oblivion when you're 75." But he cannot help himself. He is the ex-husband in three marriages gone wrong. He is the father of two sons who detest him, despite a daughter who adores him. And as his health worsens, he is the envious brother of a much fitter man. A masterful portrait of one man's inner struggles, Everyman is a brilliant showcase for one of the world's most distinguished novelists.

Listen to an interview with Philip Roth on Fresh Air.

©2006 Philip Roth (P)2006 Recorded Books, LLC.

Critic reviews

• 2007 PEN/Faulkner Award, Fiction

"Roth continues exercising his career-defining, clear-eyed, intelligent vision of how the psychology of families works." ( Booklist)

"This is an artful yet surprisingly readable treatise on...well, on being human....Through it all, there's that Rothian voice: pained, angry, arrogant, and deeply, wryly funny." ( Publishers Weekly)

"Our most accomplished novelist. . . . [With Everyman] personal tenderness has reached a new intensity." ( The New Yorker)

Fabulous Phillip Roth

Roth explores the thoughts that go through an aged man. Most older men will relate. Reader was spectacular. The words of Roth are like hands flowing through snow

A book that will stick with me

This book encapsulates what it feels like to be an “Everyman” in America. It authentically describes a lot of the feelings you experience as you go through life, deal with its challenges, and search for purpose.

Excellent reading

George Guidall is an excellent reader for Roth's novella -- unlike many other readers, he doesn't overact, and simply gets out of the way of Roth's prose. Recommended.

Audiobook: great! Book: not so much.

The audiobook (performance) is better than the book itself. It's the first book I read from Philip Roth and I don't feel like picking another one from the author - half of the book I read in paperback. But I would for certain listen to another record by George Guidall! He was just great.

awesome

Scary portrait of old age amidst a life with no depth and no faith in anything. Writing is incredible.