Philip Roth’s GOODBYE, COLUMBUS came out in 1959. That’s the year Roberta Markels’ THE SEDUCTION OF NONNY STEIN should have come out. And it should have been right up there with Roth’s seminal work, which has been described as “…an irreverent and humorous portrait of American-Jewish life.” Hers is that, and more. Like Roth’s book, it’s a coming-of-age story, with all the universality implied by that, but from a female perspective. Few female writers back then, with the notable exception of, for example, Mary McCarthy, were allowed the latitude to tell the punch-to-the-solar-plexus truth that’s the defining quality of great fiction. THE SEDUCTION OF NONNY STEIN is rich with humor, but it’s the valiant, heroic sort of humor that arises from that profound place where comedy and tragedy overlap.
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