Goodbye, Columbus (film)

Goodbye, Columbus is a 1969 American romantic comedy drama film starring Richard Benjamin and Ali MacGraw, directed by Larry Peerce and based on the novella of the same name by Philip Roth. The screenplay was written by Arnold Schulman who was awarded the Writers Guild of America Award.

This was essentially MacGraw's film debut, as she had previously played a bit part in 1968's A Lovely Way to Die. The story's title alludes to a phonograph record played by the brother of MacGraw's character, nostalgically recalling his athletic career at Ohio State.

Plot

Neil Klugman (Richard Benjamin) is an intelligent, working class army veteran and graduate of Rutgers University who works as a library clerk. He falls for Brenda Patimkin (Ali MacGraw), a wealthy student at Radcliffe College who is home for the summer. They face obstacles from Brenda's family (particularly her mother), due to differences in class and assimilation into the American mainstream. Other conflicts include propriety and issues related to premarital sex and the possibility of pregnancy, and Mrs. Patimkin's envy of her daughter's youth.

Goodbye, Columbus

Goodbye, Columbus is a 1959 collection of fiction by the American novelist Philip Roth, comprising the title novella "Goodbye, Columbus"—which first appeared in The Paris Review—and five short stories. It was his first book and was published by Houghton Mifflin.

In addition to the title novella, set in New Jersey, Goodbye, Columbus contains the five short stories "The Conversion of the Jews," "Defender of the Faith," "Epstein," "You Can't Tell a Man by the Song He Sings," and "Eli, the Fanatic." Each story deals with the concerns of second and third-generation assimilated American Jews as they leave the ethnic ghettos of their parents and grandparents and go on to college, to white-collar professions, and to life in the suburbs.

The book was a critical success for Roth and won the 1960 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction That earned his name as an up-and-coming young writer. The book was not without controversy, as people within the Jewish community took issue with Roth's less than flattering portrayal of some characters. The short story Defender of the Faith, about a Jewish sergeant who is exploited by three shirking, coreligionist draftees, drew particular ire. When Roth in 1962 appeared on a panel alongside the distinguished black novelist Ralph Ellison to discuss minority representation in literature, the questions directed at him became denunciations. Many accused Roth of being a self-hating Jew, a label that stuck with him for years. It is often speculated that the obscene comedy of Portnoy's Complaint (1969) was Roth's defiant reply to early Jewish critics.

Goodbye, Columbus (soundtrack)

Goodbye, Columbus is the soundtrack to the 1969 movie of the same name (# 99). It features four songs written and performed by The Association. The rest of the album consists of incidental music by composer Charles Fox. The title track reached # 80 on Billboard's charts in early 1969.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Charles Fox, except where noted. 

References