Philip Roth Turns 80
Image by Getty Images
Today is Philip Roth’s 80th birthday, and the literary hounds are on the scent. Here’s what’s going on:
Roth’s hometown of Newark N.J. is celebrating with a photo exhibit at the New York Public Library, a bus tour, and an invite-only talk by Roth himself at the Newark Museum.
Image by Getty Images
There is a two day conference hosted by the Philip Roth Society titled “Roth@80,” featuring notables such as Jonathan Lethem, Claudia Roth Pierpont (author of the forthcoming “Roth Unbound: A Writer and His Books”) and Hermione Lee.
PBS is about to air “Philip Roth: Unmasked” (which, critics agreed pretty much unanimously, unmasks nothing). You can read our review here.
Flavorwire has Roth’s 10 grumpiest quotes. Here’s the best one, from Esquire, 1981:
“To become a celebrity is to become a brand name. There is Ivory Soap, Rice Krispies, and Philip Roth. Ivory is the soap that floats; Rice Krispies the breakfast cereal that goes snap-crackle-pop; Philip Roth the Jew who masturbates with a piece of liver.”
Fran Bartkowski describes in the New Jersey Star-Ledger how she, as a feminist, was eventually won over by Roth.
WNYC has re-posted a couple of appearances by Roth on the Leonard Lopate Show in 2008 and 2010.
Jason Cowley at the Financial Times raises the question, once again, of whether Roth could ever win the Nobel Prize.
And to sum it up, as Alex Balk does at The Awl, “Something something Newark, something something Jews, something something sex, something something misogyny, something something postmodernism and questions of identity, something something Nobel Prize?, something something alleged retirement. That should about do it.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
