2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Outdated but useful, March 12, 2007
This review is from: Conversations With Philip Roth (Paperback)
Philip Roth is one of New Jersey's finest living writers and authors. He was on the shortlist for the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005 but lost to Harold Pinter. Roth's love of Newark is obvious in his literature. I love reading and rereading the articles. This book is a compilation of articles and conversations about the prolific author. The book is outdated because he and the divine actress Claire Bloom have long separated and divorced since 1995. I think the book needs to be updated. Newark, New Jersey is hometown offered a tour of his book locations in October 2005. I am using this book to help students in Newark, New Jersey understand that Roth is one of the most world renowned authors of our time and to be a local boy who does good. The Newark of Phil's youth is long gone, many of the communities that were enclaves to specific ethnic groups have long migrated into the better neighborhoods but I think there is the sense of community missing in their lives or they wouldn't miss and relish the sense of community that once existed in the old neighborhoods of Newark as well.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
5.0 out of 5 stars
If You Love Roth Then You'll Love This Book, September 4, 2011
This review is from: Conversations With Philip Roth (Paperback)
This book is a collection of interviews with and essays about Philip Roth and his work. I want to eat this book. It's full of really clever stories, interesting anecdotes, and a lot of insight into the process of the man I consider to be the greatest living author.
When I read a book, I use Post-It flags to mark passages that I find to be particularly interesting, compelling, or that I think can serve as stand alone examples of the feeling of a book. Usually I'll have 2 or 3 flags in a book.
In this book, I flagged 27 different passages, some of which follow.
On Our Gang, a satirical novel he wrote which depicted the fictional assassination of Richard Nixon, disgusted many who felt that he was calling for the assassination :
"I expect some readers will miss the point, clear as it seems to me. But all I can say to those who will fear for the President's life is that they would do better to lobby for a strong federal gun-control bill than to worry about the influence of Our Gang on potential assassins. Admittedly, it might be easier to push for a bill outlawing literature than for one making it impossible to buy a rifle through the mail for fifteen bucks, but the fact remains, more people are killed in this country every year by bullets than by satires."
On how being a Famous Writer affected his ability to teach:
"In recent years, my public reputation has sometimes accompanied me into the classroom, but usually after the first few weeks, when the students observe that I have neither exposed myself nor set up a stall and attempted to interest them in purchasing my latest book, whatever anxieties or illusions about me they may have had begin to recede and I am largely allowed to be a literature teacher instead of Famous."
On his literature students, and why he likes to teach them :
"They read as though it matters."
Sometimes when I'm working on my own fiction, I start to get discouraged thinking about how I will never been as good as The Greats. I am going to put this next passage above my desk so that the next time I think that way, I will remember that even Roth feels that way at times.
"I just finished reading Updike's Rabbit is Rich in proof. He knows so much, about golf, about porn, about kids, about America. I don't know anything about anything. His hero is a Toyota salesman. Updike knows everything about being a Toyota salesman. Here I live in the country and I don't even know the names of the trees. I'm going to give up writing."
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
