By Victoria Looseleaf
It’s no secret that we’re huge Philip Roth fans – no matter he never responded to the only fan letter we’d ever written. So when he recently announced that Nemesis was his last novel (published in 2010), we were, of course, slightly bereft. (Is that condition possible?) In any case, it seems that as soon as his retirement hit the news, Roth, who turns 80 on March 19, has been all over the place, or at least in the places we frequent (web-wise).
There’s even an upcoming documentary on Roth skedded to air at the end of March on PBS. It’s called Philip Roth: Unmasked, and the New York Times’ A.O. Scott is over the moon about it, saying that Roth is, “marvelous company — expansive, funny, generous and candid.” New York Mag also weighed in, asking a panel of “30 literati to assess his oeuvre” (okay, it was a convocation of mostly young dudes), and found that 77% hailed Roth as America’s greatest living novelist (Don DeLillo was the only other nominated writer). Whatever! It’s an ultra-cool piece, filled with lots of graphics and Rothian goodies.
(Above, 2004 interview for the release of Roth’s brilliant, The Plot Against America.)
Ergo, in light of all this, we just wanted to give another shout-out to our favorite American author and to those who might also feel similarly about this titan of words. Hey: We only wish that all of this attention will drive Roth back to his desk and, perhaps, rethink all that retirement nonsense.
Oh, and btw, have a fabulous and very happy birthday, dear Mr. Roth!
