Everyman by Philip Roth (Audiobook Review)

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Title: Everyman
Author: Philip Roth
Narrator: George Guidall
Duration: 4 hours, 7 minutes
Copyright: 2006, Recorded Books
Genres: general fiction,
Filed in: Audiobook Reviews
Review copy provided by Kearney Public Library.

PUBLISHER’S SUMMARY: 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.
©2006 Philip Roth; (P)2006 Recorded Books, LLC.

MY TAKE ON IT: I wouldn’t go so far as to say this audiobook was brilliant, I don’t get paid to do this so I can be more honest than that, but Everyman did make me stop and think. In that respect, I have to admit that this novel was a success.
Everyman is the story of one man’s life. The protagonist remains nameless throughout the audiobook. According to author Philip Roth, this is to emphasize the fact that he is identified more through his relationships with others, than through any identity of his own. The character spends his whole life trying to figure out who he is, and after three failed marriages, and two sons that despise him, he comes to his end never having succeeded.
Philip Roth touches briefly on the subject of religion in Everyman, mainly to note that the nameless character never had any faith during his life. It seems clear to me that his lack of faith corresponds with the lack of meaning in his life, although I don’t think that’s what the author intended. I listened to an interview Roth did on NPR’s Fresh Air, and it’s clear that, while raised in a Jewish family, Roth subscribes to no religion at all. During the interview, he used the words “irrational” and “delusional” interchangeably with the word religion. Overall, the author comes across as an arrogant man who belittles things he does not understand.
At any rate, it remains unclear to me what Roth was trying to say in this novel, but I know what it says to me. A life without God is an empty life indeed.

NARRATOR: It was George Guidall that really drew me to this audiobook. I love his narrations, and he did a fantastic job on Everyman, as he does on every other book he narrates. His readings are so natural that they hardly sound like readings at all, more like he is just telling a story.

FINAL WORD: Everyman is an okay audiobook, but honestly, if someone other than George Guidall had narrated it, I probably would have gotten bored with it.

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This audiobook review is based on the unabridged audiobook.
Audiobook review by Steven Brandt
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