Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man
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Portrait of an Artist, as an Old Man was Joseph Heller's final novel. It depicts an elderly author as he tries to write a novel that is as successful as his earlier work. The novel was published posthumously in 2000. The concept of the novel mirrors that of the life of the author himself in that none of Heller's books sold nearly as well as Catch-22.
[edit] Plot introduction
The story is of Eugene Pota, a prominent writer who, in his old age, is struggling for that last piece of fiction that could be his magnum opus, or at least on par with his earlier writings. Littered throughout the novel are many of Pota's ideas and drafts of possible stories, such as the sexual biography of his wife, or of Hera's trouble with Zeus.
[edit] Explanation of the novel's title
The title is evocatively similar to James Joyce's A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
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