Philip Roth
Lecture Date: 4-7-1993
Click the link below to listen ot his celebrity's lecture:
Interview: Introductions for author Philip Roth are made by John Eadie, Peter Levine, and Barry Gross. Roth reads from his book Patrimony (1991), a novel about his father and Jewish life in Newark, New Jersey. This book reveals much about Roth's relationship with his father, and allows him to see the members of his family as fellow human beings with flaws and weaknesses. He recalls taking care of his father, a shocking role reversal, before his fathers death, although his love and respect for the man is clearly depicted. The author also exposes childhood experiences, especially those relevant to Jewish life in America.
Biography: Philip Roth was born in 1933 in Newark, New Jersey, which would later be the setting for many of his early novels. Noted for his ironic take on the issues of identity and sexuality within the life of the middle-class Jewish American, Roth first gained acclaim for his short story collection Goodbye, Columbus (1959). His later autobiographical fiction novels, portrayed through the eyes of his alter-ego Nathan Zuckerman, dealt with American life in the late twentieth century.