Everyman--Philip Roth

Why, oh why, did I pick this up at the library? I knew it would be utterly depressing, and it was. Utterly. But I loved The Plot Against America, and I couldn't resist Everyman's compact size for throwing into my lunch bag for reading on the train to work. (Indeed, my book choices are frequently informed by ease of carrying onto the metrolink.) In brief, the story begins at a funeral of the "everyman" main character, then Roth recounts the life that was, focusing in particular on old age, which he calls "a massacre." Roth is getting old and he's not happy about it. If you love Roth you should read this because the things that Roth does well--visceral orientation to time and place--he does well here, but it is a total downer. You have been warned.