Philip Roth Archives - Evanston Public Library

A Salute to Philip Roth – An American Master

March 13, 2013

Celebrations are in the works to help commemorate Philip Roth’s 80th birthday next week (March 19). For those of us who can’t get to Newark for the $35 bus tour traveling to places recalled in his books, or who weren’t invited to the literary party given by New York magazine, we can look forward to the new American Masters film Philip Roth: Unmasked which has its world theatrical premiere beginning today at Film Forum in New York City and premieres nationally Friday, March 29 on PBS stations. Although Mr. Roth grants very few interviews, he allowed a journalist to spend 10 days interviewing him on camera, culminating in this 90-minute documentary–which will be purchased for the library collection. You can read the entire NYT article here. And check out the EPL catalog for books by and about the Philip Roth.

Laura

Roth's Last Stand

November 16, 2012

Seventy nine-year-old Philip Roth recently announced that he’s “done with fiction”. In an interview with the French magazine Les inRocks, he said that his 2010 book Nemesis would be his last. After writing more than 20 works of fiction, he told the magazine: ” I don’t want to read any more of it, write any more of it, and I don’t even want to talk about it anymore. I have dedicated my life to the novel: I have studied it, I have taught it, I have written it, and I have read it. To the exclusion of almost everything else. It’s enough.” Now Portnoy won’t be the only one complaining. You can read the entire New Yorker article here. And check the EPL catalog for a complete listing of his works.

Laura

The Wrath of Roth

September 13, 2012

Philip Roth has written to Wikipedia denying that his novel The Human Stain was based on the life of Anatole Broyard. Instead, he contends, it was based on “an unhappy event in the life of my late friend Melvin Tumin, professor of sociology at Princeton for some 30 years.” The novel, published in 2000, deals with African American professor Coleman Silk who claimed to be white and Jewish – and was forced to retire on charges of racism. Mr. Roth claims there is no truth at all in the conjecture about Mr. Broyard. In response to his letter, a site administrator from Wikipedia wrote: “I understand your point that the author is the greatest authority on their own work, but we require secondary sources.” Unbelievable! Anyway, apparently although the Wikipedia entry still contains the Broyard theory, it has been revised to include Mr. Roth’s claims. Check out this NYT article and Mr. Roth’s letter.

Laura