Everyman by Philip Roth was published in 2006.

it won the prestigious PEN/ Faulkner

award for fiction the following year, and was Roth’s third novel to wiun the prize.the
novel is loosly based on a fifteenth century morality play of the same title, in which
the protagonist is summened by death to account for his life before God.

The story opens on an un named, thrice –divorsed elderly man who dies of a heart
attack in the middle of an operation, one of many he’s undergone. At the funeral are
past colleagues, fellow residence of the retairnment village, his three children Nancy,
Randy and Lonny,his older brother Howie and his wife, the unnamed man’s ex-wife
Phoebe, and his private nurse and lover Maureen.

The narrative moves back in time to when the man, the novel’s “Everyman”, was in
his thirties. He takes a vacation to Martha’s Vineyard with his new lover, Phoebe.
Their affair had broken up his unhappy first marriage but man is happy with
Phoebe.feeling guilty about leaving his wife and children, his thoughts turn to the
meaning of oblivion, and he returns to New York to seek medical attention. It turns
out that his appendix burst and he might have died had he not sought a hospital.

22 years of good health pass before the everyman becomes ill again. He belivies
watching his father slowly die is what is making him ill, but he in fact has heart
disease. He undergoes an operation, which is when he means Maureen, a nurse
Maureen. During his recovery, she lifts his spirit more than his wife does, and two
begin their after.

The everyman’s father does, and once again his through turn to oblivion. Everyone,
religious or not must face death. After nine years of good health, the everyman has
another heart surgery. After 9/11 he moves out of New York city and into a
retairment, he’s hospitalized every year foe heart problems.

While at the retirement village, the every man teaches painting classes. One of his
student Millicent commites suicide and ones again he must face the inevitability of
death. By comparison, his brothe Howie enjoys good health and the everyman become
envious. Their relationship suffers as a result. He stops painting. The everyman is also
lonly without a wife or female companion of any kind. He tries to seduce a passing
jogger, but fails. His marriage with Phoebe ended with an affair and new marriage to a
young model named Merete. The marriage was not a good one as Merete was vain and
unable to emotionally support him in his illness.

Without painting or women to keep him company, the everyman becomes depressed.
Phone enquiries he makes of past friends and colleagues lead to news of terminal
illness and deaths. The calls depressed him further, and it’s soon discovered he needs
another heart surgery.

Lonely, in poor health, and feeling shunned by most of his family, the everyman is
ready to confreand his morality. He visits the cemetery where his parents are buried
and thought not religious, finds comfort in the physical presence of their bonds
beneath the earth. He strikes up a conversation with a great