Summary
Philip Roth was one of America's greatest and most controversial authors. A literary sensation since the publication of Goodbye, Columbus in 1959, Roth produced striking and original works of fiction, from Portnoy's Complaint in 1969 and his masterful American trilogy in the 1990s to Everyman, which won the PEN/Faulkner Award in 2006. Critical Companion to Philip Roth is a comprehensive reference to this talented writer's life and works.
Coverage includes:
- A concise but thorough biography of Roth
- Entries on all of Roth's works, including American Pastoral, The Ghost Writer, Sabbath's Theater, The Human Stain, Zuckerman Unbound, the stories collected in Goodbye, Columbus, The Plot Against America, his nonfiction works, and more. Each entry on a fictional work contains subentries on the work's main characters (including Nathan Zuckerman, Alexander Portnoy, "Swede" Levov, and more)
- Entries on related people, places, and topics, such as anti-Semitism, Claire Bloom, Newark, satire, and many more
- Appendixes, including a chronology, a bibliography of Roth's works, and a secondary-source bibliography.
Specifications
Black-and-white photographs and illustrations. Index. Appendixes. Bibliographies. Cross-references. Chronology.
About the Author(s)
Ira B. Nadel received a Ph.D. from Cornell University and is a professor of English at the University of British Columbia. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, a UBC Distinguished University Scholar, and the winner of the 1996 Medal for Canadian Biography. His books include Biography: Fiction, Fact, and Form; Joyce and the Jews; Leonard Cohen: A Life in Art; Various Positions: A Life of Leonard Cohen; Double Act: A Life of Tom Stoppard; Ezra Pound: A Literary Life; Joyce and His Publishers; David Mamet: A Life in the Theatre; and Leon Uris: Life of a Best Seller.