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Sabbath's Theater

philip roth

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Winner of the National Book Award for Fiction

Sabbath's Theater is a comic creation of epic proportions, and Mickey Sabbath is its gargantuan hero. At sixty-four Sabbath is still defiantly antagonistic and exceedingly libidinous; sex is an obsession and a principle, an instrument of perpetual misrule in his daily existence. But after the death of his long-time mistress - an erotic free spirit whose great taste for the impermissible matches his own - Sabbath embarks on a turbulent journey into his past. Bereft and grieving, tormented by the ghosts of those who loved and hated him, he contrives a succession of farcical disasters that take him to the brink of madness and extinction.

451 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1995
Literary awards
pulitzer prize, national book award, 
Places
the united states of america, 

This edition

Format
451 pages, Paperback
Published
August 6, 1996 by Vintage
ISBN
9780679772590
ASIN
0679772596
Language
English
Characters More characters

More editions

About the author

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philip roth

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Philip Milton Roth was an American novelist and short-story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophically and formally blurring the distinction between reality and fiction, for its "sensual, ingenious style" and for its provocative explorations of American identity. He first gained attention with the 1959 short story collection Goodbye, Columbus, which won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. Ten years later, he published the bestseller Portnoy's Complaint. Nathan Zuckerman, Roth's literary alter ego, narrates several of his books. A fictionalized Philip Roth narrates some of his others, such as the alternate history The Plot Against America.
Roth was one of the most honored American writers of his generation. He received the National Book Critics Circle award for The Counterlife, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Operation Shylock, The Human Stain, and Everyman, a second National Book Award for Sabbath's Theater, and the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral. In 2005, the Library of America began publishing his complete works, making him the second author so anthologized while still living, after Eudora Welty. Harold Bloom named him one of the four greatest American novelists of his day, along with Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, and Don DeLillo. In 2001, Roth received the inaugural Franz Kafka Prize in Prague.

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Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 99 votes)
5 stars
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99 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Chalis
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Perhaps the best book by Roth that I have read so far. Before the theater, I read about 4 or 5 other of his works, but none were as good and complex.


You either love or hate Mickey Sabbath. Well, maybe you can do both at the same time, but love would prevail over hate. I didn't find anything inappropriate in this novel. Even the delirious or pornographic pages (I don't shy away from terms) are presented exceptionally and are not there for filler but are part of the world, the universe of the puppeteer who, after the death of his lover, Drenka, embarks on a kind of search for himself.


All of Sabbath's experiences are unique and draw you into their vortex like a magnet. You end up wondering if you have ever known a Sabbath or if one has ever existed.

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sharp7j
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Dear Philly R.,


You are truly a filthy and sick individual, a spinner of the most grotesque prose that one can imagine. Ever since reading Bataille's "The Story of the Eye," I have not encountered such a vile character as you. And yet, here you are, having the audacity to humanize him. What makes your sex-crazed, solipsistic, and manipulative Mickey Sabbath the most interesting of your characters (even more so than "The Swede" from "American Pastoral," I must confess) is his endless curiosity about others, which is disguised by a witty and arrogant veneer of sadistic soliloquizing. Mickey Sabbath is like what would happen if Nabokov's Humbert Humbert appeared on Duck Dynasty. I cannot fathom sympathizing with a man who urinates and masturbates on graves. But somehow, you, yes you Phil, managed to make it happen. I found myself, like Sabbath's naive friend Norman, worried for him, praying for his salvation, and hoping for a moment of reprieve. The more I read, the more I saw his tendency to cause others to hate him as a defense mechanism stemming from a deep, deep wound, which you so magnificently revealed in the most unholy exchanges.


It is ironic to name the most corrupted character after a holy day. It is truly remarkable. Your talent for making me care about the women whom Sabbath views from such an unreliable height of lust and loathing is truly astonishing. Just when you think Sabbath cannot isolate himself further from the world by swallowing every taboo he can possibly muster, he does something else that makes me pause, take a deep breath, and shake my head.


I read this book primarily in Milan, where I met my brother for a couple of days. I think it is fitting that I took this photo in the San Bernardino alle Ossa, a chapel constructed from human bones and skulls. Your novel, as I see it, is about how we choose to grieve or to run from grief, how we make deals with death, and the many hideous things we are capable of doing rather than mourning what we have lost. The more Sabbath wants to die, the less capable he feels of killing himself. It is his attachment to his hatred that makes it difficult for him to let go of the world, his clinging on to those who are gone, and his theatre of ghosts. It is simply Shakespearean.


I have said many times that this will be my year of Roth. Well, I have tasted the first of your bitter cup. I will take a moment to recover my palate for the next taste.


Best,


- Braden
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deadaccount33
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Nerves of steel are an absolute necessity for this 450-page onslaught on decency, indecency, and all those things that are neither decent nor indecent but perhaps involve sexagenarians engaging in rather unseemly behavior in a teenage girl's knicker drawer. Mickey Sabbath is truly a monster, possessing an almost unstoppable appetite for sex, lechery, and outright molestation. He also has a penchant for completely shattering all the relationships between those human beings who strive to act like semi-respectable adults. Just like Simon Lynxx in D. Keith Mano's Take Five, he has this rather convenient ability to speak in extremely unlikely literary sentences, with a level of polished erudition that no Harvard graduate-cum-Oscar Wilde descendant could ever hope to achieve. Moreover, he is such an incredibly prickly prick that your patience and tolerance levels will be pushed to the absolute breaking point. At no point would this man's painful death be anything less than a welcome event. Instead of being locked up within five minutes for being a dangerous sexual deviant, Sabbath has managed to reach his mid-sixties, having a backlog of lovers with whom he has indulged in all his perversions. Currently, he is lamenting the death of his East European fantasy lover and his sacking from the position of professor of puppetry. Sabbath's Theater is a grotesque comedic reverie (and revelry), and should really be read as little more than an audacious, linguistically explosive piece of outré comedy. If you were to read it as a serious novel, you would no doubt find yourself aspiring to strangle Mr. Roth.

This book is a wild ride that challenges the boundaries of what is acceptable and takes the reader on a journey through the mind of a truly despicable character. It is not for the faint of heart or those with a delicate constitution. However, for those who are looking for something different and are willing to embrace the absurdity, Sabbath's Theater may provide a unique and entertaining reading experience.
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Blankisblank
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Philip Roth was a writer with a highly controversial reputation.

It seems that people either love him or hate him, and this is definitely the case with "Sabbath's Theatre". The book's reputation has everything to do with its pornographic content.

However, rather than engaging in a semantic debate about what constitutes pornographic versus merely explicit writing, it's clear that Roth deliberately chose the former.

To be honest, while reading "Sabbath's Theatre", I often had to "swallow" (sorry for the obvious pun).

Superficially, the main character, Mickey Sabbath, a 64-year-old former puppeteer, appears as a sex addict and a pervert.

He can't get enough of his mistress, Drenka, and has all kinds of inappropriate sexual fantasies and behaviors.

But as the story unfolds, we see that there's much more to Sabbath's "amoral" state of mind.

He's been deeply affected by the deaths of those close to him, and his sex addiction is actually an intense attempt to cope with his feelings of loss and deprivation.

Roth successfully transforms the pervert he initially describes into a touching and pitiful older man.

Throughout the book, there are also many references to James Joyce's "Ulysses".

Mickey Sabbath can be compared to Leopold Bloom, and there are implicit and explicit nods to Joyce's masterpiece.

From a literary perspective, "Sabbath's Theatre" is a significant work that shouldn't be underestimated.

Despite its sometimes embarrassing descriptions, it's a captivating read with rousing rhetorical delights, hilarious scenes, and a powerful story.

Although the picaresque novel isn't my favorite genre, "Sabbath's Theatre" is undoubtedly a 20th-century masterpiece. (rating 3.5 stars)
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ThisisDOT
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Wow!

This is the second novel that I have read, written by Philip Roth. It has everything: absurd theater, comic scenes, a series of sexual perversions, and a spiritual journey to nowhere.

Mickey Sabbath is a puppet character that you can't forget: he shocks or displeases you, he annoys or pleases you; you hate him, but he attracts you.

Roth's writing is so vivid and engaging that it makes you feel as if you are right there in the story, experiencing everything along with the characters.

The themes explored in this novel are complex and thought-provoking, touching on issues such as sexuality, morality, and the meaning of life.

Overall, I would highly recommend this novel to anyone who enjoys reading literature that challenges and engages the mind.
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Haruka-samaa
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Mickey Sabbath is the most autobiographical character I’ve ever created, Roth said to biographer Blake Bailey. But then, Roth is an author who’s built an entire career by exasperating readers.

When I think of Sabbath, I envision a raging 64-year-old former puppeteer. He seduces twenty-year-old women, alienates everyone who’s ever loved him, and snickers at any form of respectability. He even sniffs the stolen panties of teenage girls and either masturbates or urinates on his late mistress’ grave. Sabbath is like what you’d get if you took a nice guy and, with aggravating persistence, squeezed all decency out of him drop by drop. To compensate, Roth endowed him with generous amounts of sexual perversions and a propensity for speaking in delightful literary sentences. Roth also created one of my favorite characters ever, the unapologetic Drenka, who is Sabbath’s equal in every depravity imaginable.

If wickedness was all there was to Sabbath, this book wouldn’t be the masterpiece that it is. Assuming that one of the aims of literature is to teach empathy, with Sabbath your capacity for understanding will be greatly tested. The moment you start to admire something about him, he’ll spit in your face. He’ll do something so awful and deliberately shocking that your tolerance for him will be pushed to its limits. When you are ready to give up on him, he will surprise you with his humanity and tenderness. Sabbath is fragile, isolated, lonely, and in near constant physical pain. Imagining him alone, by the sea, taking stock of his life, mourning his mother, brother, first wife, and latest mistress, and contemplating suicide while holding his late brother’s belongings, it’s hard not to feel for him. But you’ll regret it.

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rishdafish08
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Roth is a brilliant writer.

However, I can only give it 4 stars instead of 5. The reason is that I was forced to read the last 100 pages in a hurry. But I really want to go back and read them carefully again to enjoy them better.

In the end, there is the quadrature of the circle, but I won't reveal what it is.

Roth's works are always full of deep thoughts and unique expressions. His writing style is captivating and makes the reader immersed in the story. Although I didn't have enough time to fully appreciate the last part of this book, I believe that there are still many wonderful details and meanings hidden in it. I look forward to having the opportunity to read it again and discover more of its charm.
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Josh
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
July 15,2025
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Modern Classic

Modern classic is a term that combines the elements of modernity and classicism. It represents a style or genre that takes the best of both worlds and creates something unique and timeless. In art, modern classic can be seen in the works of painters who use modern techniques and materials to create pieces that have the elegance and sophistication of classic art. In literature, it can refer to novels or poems that deal with contemporary themes but are written in a style that harks back to the great works of the past. In fashion, modern classic pieces are those that are both trendy and timeless, such as a little black dress or a tailored suit. Overall, modern classic is a concept that celebrates the beauty and value of both modern and classic art and design, and shows that they can coexist and complement each other.
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