Philip Roth—does the guy never quit?

Another book? Philip Roth is 75! Why doesn’t he schlep himself off to Florida, put his feet up, and collect his royalties?

It would be the decent thing to do—it’s what the rest of us would do.

Noooooo...... he’s still plugging away, churning out one superb book after another. His latest is Indignation.  “Enough already,” as Portnoy’s mother would say.

I’ve come to Roth late, and now I’m wondering why I deprived myself for so long. If you haven’t read him, run to the nearest library or bookstore. Yes, he can be long-winded, over-the-top, tasteless, and self-absorbed, but he’s also brilliantly inventive, side-splittingly funny, and a dazzling storytelller. Oh, and sexually explicit (hilariously explicit, if you’re up for that...if you’re not, please beware).

Where to start? I can’t direct you, but here’s an outline of his oeuvre:

Philip Roth

• Portnoy’s Complaint—a Jewish man-child’s coming-of-age. (The funniest book ever written.)
  
  
• The “Zuckerman novels”—9 in all. In the first 4 (referred to as “Zuckerman Bound”) Nathan Zuckerman, author of the outrageous Carnovsky and stand-in for Roth and Portnoy’s Complaint, is the protagonist. In the last 5, an older Zuckerman observes more than participates in the stories he tells.
  
  
• The “Kepesh trilogy”—3 novels that revolve around David Kepesh, an insecure and sexually fixated literature professor.
  
  
• The “Roth novels”—3 semi-autiobiographical (or not) novels.
  
  
• Other novels—another 9—include Goodbye, Columbus; Letting Go; When She Was Good; Our Gang; The Great American Novel; My Life As a Man; Sabbath’s Theater; Everyman; and the most recent, Indignation.
  
  
• Oh, yes—another novel is in the works, The Humbling, due out in 2009.
  
  
• Non-fiction and short stories—had I mentioned that?

Also head to SCREEN THOUGHTS with Hollister and O'Toole to listen to the podcast review of the 2016 Sundance film version of, Indignation. (The review starts at point 11:04 after a tribute to famed writer-director-producer Garry Marshall.)

Where do critics stand? He’s been called “the single best writer of fiction of the past 25 years.” * And while all critics have their Roth favorites, most seem to agree that the following are his best (click on titles to see our Reading Guides):

• Portnoy’s Complaint  (1969)
• Zuckerman Bound  (1979-85)
• Operation Shylock  (1993) – Roth Novel
• American Pastoral  (1997) – Zuckerman Novel
• The Human Stain  (2000) – Zuckerman Novel
• The Plot Against America (2004) – Roth Novel
• Sabbath’s Theater  (2005)
• Everyman  (2006)
• Exit Ghost  (2007) – Zuckerman Novel

*  A.O. Scott. “In Search of the Best.” New York Times Book Review , 5/21/2006.