Philip Roth

"In Philip Roth: A Counterlife, Ira Nadel exposes the multifaceted disposition of this major voice in American letters: Roth the realist, the ironist, the ventriloquist, the impersonator, the bard. In navigating the intricacies and dualities of the public and private Roth, Nadel shows the complexities, the contradictions, and the counterlives both lived and imagined. As literary sleuth, Nadel has enriched the myriad possibilities for understanding this exacting and defiant writer and his work." "Professor Nadel's study is always very readable and compelling but its discussion of material that has never been accessed before is particularly exciting." "Philip Roth: A Counterlife engages and illuminates the scenes of discontent, betrayal, illness, and rage in Roth's own life that allow for new understandings of his work and relationships. Drawing on such primary source material as interviews, personal correspondence, and site visits, Nadel's biography penetrates the carefully composed narrative Roth presented publicly in order to present a 'counter' Philip Roth, one who is at once more sympathetic to his readers than critics realize and more dynamic than even his self-creation allows. Nadel seamlessly weaves his interpretations of Roth's most provocative texts into the story of Roth's own life: a life shadowed by pain, illness, and personal injustices but also illuminated by the joys of writing, ideas, and friendships that will persist long after his death." Book jacket.