Book cover of Philip Roth: The Biography

Book description

Appointed by Philip Roth and granted independence and complete access, Blake Bailey spent years poring over Roth's personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers and colleagues, and engaging Roth himself in breathtakingly candid conversations. The result is an indelible portrait of an American master and of the postwar literary scene.

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Why read it?

1 author picked Philip Roth as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This lengthy (807 pages, plus acknowledgements, notes, and an index) biography of the esteemed late American author Philip Roth is fascinating, perceptive, and illuminating.

As one who has read all of Roth’s books, I enjoyed learning about his writing method, along with who and what influenced him. Blake Bailey, the author of this deeply insightful and brutally frank biography, makes it clear, that, despite Philip Roth’s lifetime of denial, he was, more often than not, the main character in each of his works of fiction.

As I read Philip Roth, the Biography, I connected to the great novelist in…

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December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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