Nathan Zuckerman

Nathan Zuckerman is the protagonist of the novel. Zuckerman is the literary alter-ego of the novel’s author, Philip Roth; Zuckerman appears in several Roth novels and possesses certain personal similarities with Roth in terms of background. Zuckerman and Roth are both Jewish men who were born in the 1930s and grew up in Newark, New Jersey. In “Zuckerman Unbound,” Zuckerman has become newly famous due to the success of his latest novel, “Carnovsky,” which is similar in several ways to Roth’s popular novel, “Portnoy’s Complaint.”

In “Zuckerman Unbound,” Zuckerman struggles to adjust to his newly acquired fame and monetary success. He dislikes being harassed by strangers via mail and telephone, and he dislikes being approached by strangers who recognize him on the street, such as Alvin Pepler. Zuckerman becomes anxious when an anonymous caller threatens to kidnap his mother if Zuckerman does not give...