Philip Roth

1933–2018

Philip Roth was one of the major American writers of the second half of the twentieth-century, chronicling the lives of Jewish Americans in the generations following WWII. His more than thirty books of fiction and nonfiction are known for their humor, eroticism, and psychological acuity. He maintained a long relationship with The Paris Review, publishing several of his first stories in early issues of the magazine in the fifties. He received our Hadada Award for lifetime achievement in 2010. His debut collection, Goodbye Columbus (1959), won the 1960 National Book Award, the first of many honors Roth would receive throughout his career, including the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Pulitzer Prize. Among his best-known works are Portnoy’s Complaint (1972), and the series of novels about Roth’s alter ego Nathan Zuckerman, beginning with The Ghost Writer (1979). In 2010, he published his final novel, Nemesis.

Photo courtesy of the author

In Memoriam: Philip Roth, 1933–2018

Philip Roth, a towering figure of twentieth-century literature, has died at the age of eighty-five. He had a long history with the The Paris Review. His story “The Conversion of the Jews” was pulled from our slush pile when Roth was just twenty-five years old, and published in issue no. 18 (Spring 1958).

Time Has Stood Still: Philip Roth (1933–2018)

The Paris Review Podcast

Before Philip Roth was an American icon, he published one of his first short stories in The Paris Review in 1958. In 2010 he received the Hadada, our award for lifetime achievement. Here is his acceptance speech.

Interview

The Art of Fiction No. 84

Issue no. 93 Fall 1984

“The idea is to turn flesh and blood into literary characters and literary characters into flesh and blood.”

Fiction

Goodbye, Columbus

Issue no. 20 Autumn-Winter 1958-1959

The first time I saw Brenda she asked me to hold her glasses. Then she stepped out to the edge of the diving board and looked foggily into the pool; it could have been drained, myopic Brenda would never have known it. She dove beautifully, and a moment later she was swimming back to the side of the pool.

Epstein

Issue no. 19 Summer 1958

Michael, the weekend guest, was to spend the night in one of the twin beds in Herbie’s old room, where the baseball pictures still hung on the wall. Lou Epstein slept with his wife in the room with the bed pushed catter-corner. His daughter Sheila’s bedroom was empty; she was at a meeting with her fiancé, the folk-singer.

The Conversion of the Jews

Issue no. 18 Spring 1958

“You’re a real one for opening your mouth in the first place,” Itzie said. “What do you open your mouth all the time for?”

Feature

An Acceptance

Issue no. 167 Fall 2003

On Inspiration

Issue no. 107 Summer 1988

What follows are the authors’ discussions on the first stirrings, the germination of a poem, or a work of fiction. Any number of headings would be appropriate: Beginnings, The Starting Point, etc. Inspiration would be as good as any.

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