In 1970, when Philip Roth’s novel was banned in Australia, a small group of people secretly printed hundreds of copies. Half a century later, only three have been found
Inside the hallowed halls of State Library Victoria, a very special and scrappy little book is currently on display: Portnoy’s Complaint, the only book ever written by one “Phillip Roth”.
This battered, stained edition of the infamously filthy novel, with Roth’s first name misspelled with two Ls on the cover, is enormously significant: one of three known surviving copies of an illegal edition printed in Australia when the book was banned across the country.
