Interesting for so many reasons, not in the least, the fact that its sexuality caused such a stir at the time of publication, I think most of you will agree, Goodbye, Columbus is a rather tame book by today's standards. But the writing has the great Roth vitality, and the dialogue is dazzling. Note perfect. What an ear he has. I'm looking at a number of books that, I hope, will help to explain how we got "here," as a culture – whatever "here" might mean (and I realize it is likely to mean very different things to different people). But I think you are likely to see, within this book's issues of status, identification, assimilation, disenfranchisement and longing, the nascent ground of the freedoms that followed, and the destabilization that was both troublesome and glorious. –Both of which have led us to this moment.

A re-read for me, Goodbye, Columbus was the first thing I ever read by Roth. I was again riveted (except during Leo’s endless monologue at the end of the wedding reception when I flipped through pages, hoping he would soon shut up, even though that's clearly the reaction Roth intended). Through the eyes of two young characters living worlds apart in New Jersey, we get a clear picture of how life tended to play out in mid-20th-century America for so many. One quote from the book – “No sense carrying dreams of Tahiti in your head, if you can’t afford the fare” – strikes me as definitive. Neither Neil nor Brenda could afford the fare that would have to be paid if their love affair continued.

See the movie if you can. The book is flat. None of the emotion and irony is in book. The book needs motion and scenery. Its very dated. Most people won't under the story thin as it is about ethnicity and class back then and still to.a.lesser degree. Jewish - American princess at Radcliff tmeets Jewish boy from NJ schools with no interest in anything working in a public library after military service. Finding himself. They spend the summer at her house on weekends having sex. After a while he asks her to get a diaphragm which she does after much squabling. She goes back to Radcliff and he visits her. She leaves the diaphragm at home. He parents discover it and blame him not her. Wonders why she left diaphragm running the weekend and their relationship. He backs his bags and returns home by train. No birth control pills in those days. What were they doing until she got the diapragm? The parents got their princess back with expensive gifts to comfort her. He end back at the library, maybe broken hearted or happen to be free again.

I got this book for a class, and I ended up really enjoying it. The story of Neil and Brenda was good, and I am glad I had to read it. I would recommend this to people. It’s also a quick read if you’re looking for something quick to read!

This is about my fourth review of a Philip Roth book and represents a deliberate return to his earlier works. There is no earlier published selection than Good bye Columbus. Not only was this an award winning book, but the title story would become the first of many of his works to become a movie.

I recently relocated to New Jersey and heard about this book on the New Jersey Is The World podcast. I read it and besides being a great story that translates in any setting it is an excellent primary source for exploring New Jersey's class consciousness through neighborhoods. I'm from the South and I can tell y'all that NJ is obsessed with class in a way that people from my home in Appalachia are not. Seller review: book arrived on time as advertised.