Source: "The Swamp of Prosperity," in Commentary, Vol. 28, No. 1, July 1959, pp. 77-9.

In the following excerpted review of Goodbye, Columbus, Bellow announces the arrival of a talented writer, accurate in his understanding of contemporary American Jewry, though excessively wry in his handling of the material.

Goodbye, Columbus is a first book but it is not the book of a beginner. Unlike those of us who came howling into the world, blind and bare, Mr. Roth appears with nails, hair, and teeth, speaking coherently. At twenty-six he is skillful, witty, and energetic and performs like a virtuoso. His one fault, and I don't expect all the brethren to agree that it is a fault, is that he is so very sophisticated. Sometimes he twinkles too much. The New York Times has praised him for being "wry." One such word to the wise ought to be sufficient. Mr. Roth has...