Philip Roth: The Biography

Autor*innen

• Blake Bailey

Parameter

• 912 Seiten
• 32 Lesestunden

• Amerikanische Literatur
• Autobiografien und Memoiren
• Biografien
• Sachliteratur
• Wahre Geschichten

Mehr zum Buch

Philip Roth requested his biographer, Blake Bailey, to make him interesting rather than rehabilitate him. With full access to Roth's personal archive, Bailey dedicated nearly a decade to studying Roth's life through extensive interviews with friends, lovers, and colleagues, alongside Roth's own candid confessions. Cynthia Ozick praised Bailey's biography in the New York Times Book Review, calling it a narrative masterwork that reveals the intricate drive behind what initially appears to be casual chance. Despite Roth's reputation as an autobiographical novelist, much about his actual life remains unknown. Bailey uncovers a man who led a compartmentalized existence: a passionate advocate for dissident writers while also embodying the roguish character of Mickey Sabbath, engaging in scandalous affairs and seeking to provoke others. Roth's tumultuous relationship with his second wife, Claire Bloom, adds another layer to his complex persona. Ultimately, Roth's literary legacy includes thirty-one books that, as poet Mark Strand noted, provide profound insights into contemporary life. Bailey examines Roth's evolution from realism to farce, metafiction, and the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, highlighting his deep engagement with postwar American culture.

• Sprache: Englisch
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
• Einband: Paperback