The Anatomy Lesson

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The Anatomy Lesson is a 1983 novel by the American author Philip Roth. It is the third novel from Roth to feature Nathan Zuckerman as the main character. Having buried his mother in the previous novel Zuckerman Unbound, Zuckerman finds himself facing middle age and an undiagnosable pain in his neck. The mysterious ailment has him laid up and keeps him from his regime of writing. Barred by pain from writing and bored by inactivity, Zuckerman's mind is free to wander anxiously over the memories of his failed marriages and relationships with family members. In a desperate burst of nostalgia and ambition, Zuckerman resolves to return to the University of Chicago, his alma matre, in order to pursue medical school. This is ostensibly an attempt to understand his own unexplained physical pain but it functions on another level as a symbol of his lifelong search for self-understanding.