Patrimony

Unlike the majority of Pulitzer Prize-winning American novelist Philip Roth's most famous works, which are strictly fictional, Patrimony (1991) is an autobiographical story relating his father, Herman's fatal illness and eventual death from a brain tumor. The winner of the National Book Critics Award for Autobiography, Patrimony is a "major achievement," according to The New York Times Book Review. The word "patrimony" is defined as "property inherited from one's father."

In 1987, at the age of eighty-six, Herman Roth wakes up paralyzed in half of his face. Thus begins a long, interminable series of doctor's visits. At first, Herman is diagnosed with Bell's palsy, a generalized type of facial paralysis with an unknown cause but which is generally temporary. However, a few weeks later, his face is still paralyzed, and now, Herman cannot hear out of his right ear. After visiting an ophthalmologist who expresses skepticism over the Bell's palsy diagnosis, Herman's family doctor, Dr. Meyerson, gives him an MRI and discovers a brain tumor. Rather than reveal the news directly to Herman, Dr. Meyerson calls his son, Philip. Philip recalls the grievous difficulty with which he relayed the diagnosis to his father, unable to disclose the full details. Although the tumor is technically benign, brain tumors of all kinds are highly dangerous because of how they compress the brain tissue. Because the brain tumor is very large, it will be extremely difficult, though not impossible, to remove. Philip and Herman are told that the probability of such a procedure is very low, and the chances for complications high. With that in mind, Herman and his family decide against surgery, and over the next year and a half, Herman slowly weakens.

Philip tries his best to cheer up Herman. He accompanies Herman to his social club where they suffer through a hilariously bad string quartet. The two discuss the New York Mets, Herman's favorite team. Philip also encourages his father to share with him stories of his upbringing in Newark, New Jersey. In describing his father's joy at telling his stories, Philip writes, "To be alive, to him, is to be made of memory—to him if a man’s not made of memory, he’s made of nothing." Despite all of Philip's efforts to keep his father in good cheer, Herman does not always face his illness with dignity. Frequently angry and obstinate, he bullies his girlfriend.



One day while lunching at Philip's house, Herman loses control of his bowels. Philip must clean up the mess, scrubbing between the floorboards with a toothbrush. Embarrassed, Herman begs Philip not to tell anyone, not even his wife or children. The irony is not lost on Philip that, through Patrimony, he ends up telling the entire world about this humiliation. Nevertheless, he feels justified in relaying this scene because of his conviction in sharing the experience of his father's demise as honestly as possible.

Meanwhile, Philip faces his own health problems throughout this ordeal. At one point, he must undergo emergency quintuple bypass surgery.

In October 1989, Herman finally succumbs to the brain tumor. The book ends with Philip dreaming of his father speaking to him from beyond the grave.