The Conversion of the Jews | Critical Overview

Roth’s critical reputation for ‘‘The Conversion of the Jews’’ is the same as for the rest of his works: sharply divided. Sanford Pinsker sums it up best in his 1984 entry on Roth for the Dictionary of Literary Biography: ‘‘His readers tend to have strong attachment to one end or the other of the evaluative yardstick, which is to say, people either love his fiction or they hate it. Gray areas are rare indeed.’’ This trend began with Roth’s first book, Goodbye, Columbus, and Five Short Stories. Much of the Jewish community, critics and readers alike, were...

[The entire page is 602 words long]

Join eNotes

The above is a free excerpt. Get total access to this content with the:

eNotes Pass

Summary and Analysis – Themes – Characters – And much more...