The Dying Animal

{{short description|2001 novel by Philip Roth}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}} {{Infobox book |  | name = The Dying Animal | title_orig = | translator = | image = DyingAnimal.jpg | image_size = 200px | caption = First edition cover | author = Philip Roth | illustrator = | cover_artist = Amedeo Modigliani (cover features his painting ''Le grand nu'') | country = United States | language = English | series = | genre = Novel | publisher = Houghton Mifflin | release_date = 2001 | english_release_date = | media_type = Print (Hardback & Paperback) | pages = 156 pp | isbn = 0-618-13587-1 | oclc= 3089703 }} '''''The Dying Animal''''' (2001) is a short novel by the US writer Philip Roth. It tells the story of senior literature professor David Kepesh, renowned for his literature-themed radio show. Kepesh is finally destroyed by his inability to comprehend emotional commitment. ''The Dying Animal'' is the third book in a series portraying the life of the fictional professor, preceded by ''The Breast'' (1972) and ''The Professor of Desire'' (1977).

==Plot summary== Kepesh is fascinated by the beautiful young Consuela Castillo, a student in one of his courses. An erotic liaison is formed between the two; Kepesh becomes obsessively enamored of his lover's breasts, a fetish developed in the previous novels. Despite his fevered devotion to Consuela, the sexually promiscuous professor maintains a concurrent affair with a previous lover, now divorced. He is also reluctant to expose himself to the scrutiny or ridicule that might follow from an introduction to Consuela's family.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} It is implied that he fears such a meeting would expose the implausible age gap in their relationship. Ultimately, Kepesh limits their relationship to the physical instead of embarking upon any deeper arrangement.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}}

In the end, Kepesh is destroyed by his indecisiveness, the fear of senescence, his lust and jealousy.{{citation needed|date=June 2014}} Consuela never subsequently finds a lover who can show the same level of devotion to her body as Kepesh had. After some years of estrangement, she asks him to take nude photographs of her because she will be losing one of her breasts to a life-saving mastectomy.

Most editions display a cover picture, ''Le grand nu'' (1919) by Amedeo Modigliani. In the novel, Consuela sends Kepesh a postcard depicting ''Le grand nu'', and Kepesh surmises that the figure in the painting is her alter ego.

==Film adaptation== The Isabel Coixet film ''Elegy'' (starring Penélope Cruz, Ben Kingsley Dennis Hopper and Patricia Clarkson), which premiered at the 2008 Berlinale, is based on ''The Dying Animal''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bluerectangle.com/book_reviews/view_one_review/2562 |title= ''The Dying Animal'' (review) |author= |date= |work= |publisher= |accessdate=2011-10-05}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

== Further reading == *Hanft, Lucas, [http://www.yalereviewofbooks.com/archive/fall01/review04.shtml.htm "The Animal in Man Roth returns to introspection and the Id. ''The Dying Animal''"], ''Yale Review of Books'', Fall 2001 issue *Mars-Jones, Adam, [https://www.theguardian.com/books/2001/jul/01/fiction.philiproth "The sexual licence fee: Philip Roth's narrative drive suffers in this coda to his great works, The Dying Animal"], ''The Observer'' (UK), Sunday July 1, 2001 *Scott, A.O., [http://www.times.com/books/01/05/27/reviews/010527.27scottt.html "Alter Alter Ego: Philip Roth brings back David Kepesh, formerly a breast"], ''New York Times'', May 27, 2001.

== External links == {{Wikiquote|Philip Roth#The Dying Animal (2001)|The Dying Animal}}

*[http://www.readinggroupguides.com/guides3/dying_animal1.asp Summary and Questions for Discussion] {{PhilipRoth}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dying Animal}} Category:2001 American novels Category:2001 English-language novels Category:Novels about teachers Category:Novels about ageing Category:Novels about sexuality Category:Fiction about radio Category:American novels adapted into films Category:Novels by Philip Roth