Why Philip Roth?

 Another writer who appears and will appear on this blog is Philip Roth. I knew of Roth when I was a teenager. Who could miss The Breast when browsing a bookstore? I also blew him off for that same title.

In prison, I did read him. He now had the reputation of a Great American Writer. I thought I needed to know what gave him the right to such a title. I found I should not have blown him off. Whatever else he may possess as a writer, and I think there is much, for me he proved something else: that someone from a broken down factory town in New Jersey could write about that place and the lives there and produce something good.

That lesson means more for me than his personal failings. No one in my position, with my status in life, can cast a stone. However, I hold no brief for the man, having never met him. I will stand for his work, that is all.

LitHub published Why Philip Roth, Why Now?, which has opinions by persons more knowledgeable than me. All I can do is point you to the books.

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