content: Call It Sleep, the first novel of Henry Roth, is the book that must be be next in your life. To get pedantic about it, Call It Sleep is the logical (don't think about it -- logic has little to do with the visceral impact) outgrowth of the lessons of novel-craft as demonstrated in James Joyce's Ulysses (read Roth's later books, Mercy of a Rude Stream et al. to find out more). No literate person should neglect this striking work. It is another example (and perhaps the finest) of how the simple is the most complex; its story will find that part of you that needs to hear it most and you will never be sorry. Blah Blah -- THE AMERICAN NOVEL. READ IT AGAIN.