Nathan Zuckerman

Nathan Zuckerman is the novel’s protagonist and narrator. He has appeared in multiple novels by Philip Roth, at multiple stages in Zuckerman’s life. In Exit Ghost, Zuckerman is at the advanced age of 71 years old. He is a highly successful novelist, and he used to live in New York City. However, about ten years ago, he moved away because he began receiving anti-Semitic death threats in the mail (Zuckerman is Jewish.) Zuckerman moved to Athena, a fictional town in western Massachusetts that appears in multiple Roth novels. There, Zuckerman lived a life of solitude.

However, a local named Larry Hollis befriended him, and one of Larry’s dying wishes was for Zuckerman to live in society again. Thus, Zuckerman makes a foray back to New York City. However, over the course of the novel, he finds his week there to be quite frustrating. He finds...