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The Professor of Desire Audiobook
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(3.00) - 1,170 listener ratings
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From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of American Pastoral—"a thoughtful…elegant”—The New York Times Book Review and often hilarous novel about the dilemma of pleasure: where we seek it; why we flee it; and how we struggle to make a truce between dignity and desire.
As a student in college, David Kepesh styles himself “a rake among scholars, a scholar among rakes.” Little does he realize how prophetic this motto will be—or how damning. For as Philip Roth follows Kepesh from the domesticity of childhood into the vast wilderness of erotic possibility, from a ménage à trois in London to the throes of loneliness in New York, he creates a novel that “ranks among the major achievements in the literature of our time”—Village Voice.
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"The man can write, but almost glib and at times aimless accounting of sexual progress which sometimes intersects with mating, but never partnership. Marriage becomes misery. Finally finds a woman he loves with something like reciprocity. He hovers near the feeling of sufficiency and pleasure in not yearning for the mythical 'more', only to anguish over the temporality of it all."
— Amy (4 out of 5 stars)
The Professor of Desire Listener Reviews
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" David Kepesh, Professor of Literature and lover of raw sex, just can't seem to find it and keep it. "
— Graf, 2/18/2014 -
" I'm drowning sweetly in these words. I'm not even being romantic about this. "
— Cynthia, 1/30/2014 -
" Yes, I do like Philip Roth. "
— Kris, 1/28/2014 -
" I tried to get into this book, but was so bored at page 100 that I put it down. I hate not finishing books, but this one just didn't captivate me. "
— Nancy, 1/22/2014 -
" The second volume in Roth's Kepesh trilogy didn't really move me as much as I would have hoped. David Kepesh spends much of his youth studying literature and frolicking with women, then settles down and gets married, then gets divorced, then falls in with a schoolteacher and starts to build a life, only to catch a glimpse of the fleeting nature of his affection. The novel ends with a bunch of nostalgic backwards-looking that I found stilted (though effusiveness certainly wasn't what I was looking for). Maybe it's because nostalgia was a bad habit for me until a decade ago. I don't know. I don't know what I'm talking about right now. I'm so zapped on cold medicine I can barely see straight. So if you really give a damn what I thought about this book, check back later and maybe I'll do a better job. I'm going to bed. "
— Gregg, 1/17/2014 -
" Boring as fu**. What the **ck? "
— Martin, 1/5/2014 -
" I have become a Philip Roth fan; I am trying to read everything he has written (and his production is prodigious.) Some of his books are among the best I have read. This one, written in 1977, is boring. With a title like that and Roth's reputation as a writer in which sex plays a prominent part, this one is surprisingly tame. Basically, after a wild year in England, the narrator settles down with one woman to live a conventional life. Good for him. Minus the wild year in England, that's my story. But it's not worth writing about. "
— John, 1/5/2014 -
" Not my favourite Roth, but still a great novel about women, women and women. "
— Monica, 12/24/2013 -
" the name of this book makes me giggle but nevertheless, very good. i really love roth. it will be sad when he dies. this review is useless. "
— Laura, 12/11/2013 -
" Amy willingly let me take this from her bookshelf after starting it twice. Was a quick read for me but I know what she meant. But he was less uber-male than Saul Bellow, so it was tolerable. "
— Lisa, 11/29/2013 -
" again,this turned out to be better than I expectesd. Maybe it doesn't quite deserve a 4, maybe 3.6, lots better than The Breast. "
— Mimi, 11/18/2013 -
" Impressive beginning. Funnier than the other novels by PR I read thus far... "
— Klaus, 8/21/2013 -
" A three and a half. Well written and at times really funny, ultimately the book really depressed me. "
— Becca, 8/11/2013 -
" i expect roth to be good every time but i'm begining to realise that i probably like his early stuff best.guess i'm a sucker for books about relationships-especially failed ones.brilliant. "
— Ania, 6/19/2012 -
" Didn't enjoy the first half too much but got a lot stronger as it went on. Last 50 pages or so were excellent. "
— Meg, 10/22/2011 -
" Not quite sure how I feel about this one yet. This happens often when I read Roth's work; I have to let it sink in for a few days. "
— Nicole, 8/26/2011 -
" Funny ..kinky.. but long for no reason. "
— Rashid, 1/15/2011 -
" This is:<br/><br/>1) As purely delightful a novel as Roth has written, one of the very strongest of his early novels 2) As harrowing a novel of addiction as <em>The Gambler</em> or <em>Hangover Square</em> 3) A wonderful palette-cleanser after running the gauntlet that is Gaddis's <em>JR</em>. "
— Mike, 10/13/2010 -
" Amy willingly let me take this from her bookshelf after starting it twice. Was a quick read for me but I know what she meant. But he was less uber-male than Saul Bellow, so it was tolerable. "
— Lisa, 9/18/2010 -
" A three and a half. Well written and at times really funny, ultimately the book really depressed me. "
— Becca, 6/25/2010 -
" I tried to get into this book, but was so bored at page 100 that I put it down. I hate not finishing books, but this one just didn't captivate me. "
— Nancy, 4/29/2010 -
" Not quite sure how I feel about this one yet. This happens often when I read Roth's work; I have to let it sink in for a few days. "
— Nicole, 2/7/2010 -
" Same as for Lawrence's 'The Virgin and the Gypsy' -- such mirroring, I take it, is a violation of review etiquette, but does it make the review incomplete? "
— doug, 11/30/2009 -
" Loved this book. Roth at his finest. David Kepesh on a binge of sex and drinking and intellectualism. Absolutely brilliant. "
— Yeti, 11/3/2009 -
" Impressive beginning. Funnier than the other novels by PR I read thus far... "
— Klaus, 11/1/2009 -
" A bit wordy, but funny in true Roth fashion. "
— Marina, 10/5/2009 -
" Good read, but the Dying Animal is a much more interesting character study "
— Leticia, 7/13/2009 -
" While I didn't particularly enjoy this book, I still think Roth a brilliant writer. "
— Danny, 4/10/2009
About Philip Roth
Philip Roth (1933–2018) was one of the most decorated writers in American history, having won the Pulitzer Prize in fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award twice, the PEN/Faulkner Award three times, the National Book Award, and many more. He also won the Ambassador Book Award of the English-Speaking Union and in the same year received the National Medal of Arts at the White House. In 2001 he received the highest award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Gold Medal in Fiction, given every six years “for the entire work of the recipient.”
About David Colacci
David Colacci is an actor and director who has directed and performed in prominent theaters nationwide. His credits include roles from Shakespeare to Albee, as well as extensive work on new plays. As a narrator, he has won numerous Earphones Awards, earned Audie Award nominations, and been included in Best Audio of the Year lists by such publications as Publishers Weekly, AudioFile magazine, and Library Journal. He was a resident actor and director with the Cleveland Play House for eight years and has been artistic director of the Hope Summer Rep Theater since 1992.