“One of the few genuinely distinguished novels written by a twentieth-century American.” —Irving Howe, The New York Times Book Review

“Arguably the most distinguished work of fiction ever written about immigrant life...Surely the most lyrically authentic novel in American literature about a young boy's coming to consciousness.” —Lis Harris, The New Yorker

“Roth has done for the East Side Jew what James T. Farrell is doing for the Chicago Irish in the Studs Lonigan trilogy.... When his characters are speaking pure Yiddish, Roth translates it into great beauty....The final chapters in the book have been compared to the Nighttown episodes of Joyce's Ulysses; the comparison is apt.” —John Chamberlain, The New York Times