Deception (novel)
Deception is a 1990 novel by Philip Roth. It is a spin-off of Roth’s 1986 novel The Counterlife. StyleThe book is written almost entirety in dialogue and is presented as the research notes for Roth’s earlier novel The Counterlife. The novel marks the first time Roth uses his own name as the name of the protagonist within a fictional work; he had previously used himself as a main character in a work of non-fiction - The Facts: A Novelist's Autobiography, and would do so again in the memoir Patrimony. "Roth" would also be narrator of the novels Operation Shylock and The Plot Against America. SummaryThe book revolves around a series of intimate conversations recorded by a married Jewish-American writer named Philip, living in London, and an upper-middle-class Englishwoman trapped in a loveless marriage. Philip’s wife discovers the notebook of conversations and accuses him of infidelity, which he denies. In the final chapter, Philip and his mistress reconnect and discuss Philip Roth’s novel The Counterlife, which he admits is based largely on their relationship. ReceptionWriting in the New York Times Book Review, the writer and critic Fay Weldon called the novel, "extraordinary, elegant, disturbing," adding that she had found it, "exhilarating."[1] She continues:
Library of AmericaDeception is included in the fifth volume of Philip Roth's collected works Novels and Other Narratives 1986–1991, published by the Library of America. Film adaptationThe novel was adapted in the 2021 film of the same name, starring Denis Podalydès, Léa Seydoux and Anouk Grinberg. References
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