EVERYMAN Philip Roth
Tertulias literarias Literatur Solasaldiak Literary Circle
Errenteriako Biblioteka 2019 / 01 / 16
Philip Roth Philip Roth (born March 19, 1933 -died May 22, 2018), an American novelist and short-story writer whose works were characterized by an acute ear for dialogue, a concern with Jewish middle-class life, and the painful entanglements of sexual and familial love. In Roth’s later years his works were marked by a preoccupation with mortality and with the failure of the aging body and mind. Roth received an M.A. from the University of Chicago and taught there and elsewhere. He first achieved fame with “Goodbye, Columbus” (1959), whose title story depicts the boorish materialism of a wealthy Jewish suburban family. The collection earned a National Book Award. Roth’s first novel, “Letting Go”(1962), was followed in 1967 by “When She Was Good”, but he did not recapture the success of his first book until “Portnoy’s Complaint” (1969), an audacioussatirical portrait of a contemporary Jewish male at odds with his domineering mother and obsessed with sexual experience. For “ W”(1997), Roth was awarded a Pulitzer Prize. The novel, about a middle-class couple whose daughter becomes a terrorist, is the first entry in the American Trilogy series, all three books of which are narrated by Zuckerman.
Selected Works Novels ·(1973) The Great American Novel ·(1981) Zuckerman Unbound ·(1997) American Pastoral ·(2000) The Human Stain ·(2001) The Dying Animal ·(2010) Nemesis
Everyman With “Everyman” (2006), a novel that explores illness and deat Roth became the first three-time winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. “Everyman” also marked the start of a period during which Roth produced relatively brief novels, all focused on issues of mortality. The book begins at the funeral of its protagonist. The remainder of the book, which ends with his death, looks mournfully back on episodes from his life .
Reviews “Philip Roth proves that, at 72, he is still writing at the height of his phenomenal powers with a stunning portrait of a dead man seeking absolution, Everyman ” (The Guardian, 30.04.2006)
“Another ecstasy. Not to be denied by mortality. Philip Roth is a magnificent victor in attempting to disprove Georg Lukács's dictum of the impossible aim of the writer to encompass all of life.” (The New York Times, 07.05.2006)
Interesting links ·The Paris Review Interview: ·https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/2957/philip-roth-the-art-of-fiction-no-
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· The New Yorker Obituary: ·https://www.newyorker.com/books/double-take/philip-roth-in-the-new-yorker
· A Guide to Many, Many Books of Philip Roth (Slate): ·https://slate.com/culture/2018/05/philip-roth-novels-a-guide-to-all-his-works.html · Philip Roth's Newark: ·https://www.newarkhappening.com/things-to-do/tours-itineraries/philip-roth-s/
·Our coordinator´s blog (ENG/ESP) ·https://donostiabookclub.blogspot.com