I still want to write my Portnoy's Complaint. What? That is true of him, but that's not all there is.(It's part of what I like, but I'm a perv.) "Goodbye Columbus" is all literary and heartwarming, kind of. Socially conscious, too. And the later work is not quite as "ooh, sex!"

I guess I was under the impression that reading Philip Roth was like watching an un-funny Woody Allen movie. If that's not the case, mebbe he is worth trying. (One does get tired of middle-aged men worrying about their sex appeal, moreso when they can fantasize themselves supermodel girlfriends.)

C'mon, his baseball novel is like Rabelais set in the thirties. With a dash of Marx Brothers.

Wow, that's a perfect description. So impressed.

Hec is good like that.

Yeah, wrod.

In yes-we-are-sisters-but-I-am-continually-surprised-and-flattered-that-we-share-a-hivemind, I am Nutty WRT Philip Roth. But my experience is limited to Goodbye Columbus and various bits of nasty knowledge about his personal life gleaned from the NYT book review.

This is prob'ly the place to ask about John Barth - I'm loving The Floating Opera , so where should I go from here.

I'm not a huge David Mitchell fan, tbh - his first 2 books are shameless Murakami knock-offs, and although the concept of Cloud Atlas is great, he doesn't quite have the chops to pull it off; each section is a pastiche of a different form, and they all feel pastichey.

This is prob'ly the place to ask about John Barth - I'm loving The Floating Opera , so where should I go from here.

The Floating Opera is one of his earliest, I think. So if you're liking that you might want to march through him chronologically. I think the consensus pick for his best book might be The Sotweed Factor. I haven't read it, but recall my friend reading it in college and loving it - thought it was very funny. I expect Giles Goat Boy is a bit dated anymore. I loved his short stories in Lost In The Funhouse.

From his later books, I think Chimera was well received, as was Tidwater Tales.

Both reflect his ever-deepening fascination with storytelling itself, particularly the myth of Scheherezade.

Letters is very meta, bringing in characters from various of his books. That would probably be better after you'd read more of him.

Here's the John Barth Information Center - which has a thoughtful, brief critical bibliography.

For Nutty, Village Voice article on Hammett's Maltese Falcon turning 75.

Having only seen the movie, I was surprised at how readable The Maltese Falcon was. I haven't gotten on the whole noir-lit thing, but it was a fun read.