Philip Roth: The Biography

I am neither sufficiently informed nor qualified to comment on Blake Bailey’s personal life and I don’t believe it has anything to do with his work which I shall judge on its own merits. I’m sure women the world over are feverishly organising book-burnings (if they’re able to get a copy) but thankfully I’m not one of them. I will say though that the whole palaver does add a certain cachet to this book, and I’m glad I own a copy after the American publisher ceased publication of it. A quick look on eBay reveals dozens of copies for sale, no doubt sellers hoping to cash in on its notoriety. Anyway enough of that, it’s the work that counts here.Blake Bailey was already the well-regarded biographer of Charles Jackson, author of “The Lost Weekend”, Richard Yates and John Cheever - authors who are possibly more famous for their alcoholism than their books - when chosen by Philip Roth to be his biographer. And in nine hundred dense, delightful pages, “Philip Roth: The Biography” certainly does it’s subject justice. This book is “THE” biography after all.Each page is densely filled with information, suggesting that he got to know Roth as well as the author knew himself. Maybe a little too well, as an anecdote at the end of the book will attest, where Bailey recounts staying at Roth’s place and being able to hear him spending a penny in the bathroom. Probably “TMI” as trendy people say, but it’s at the end of the book and I suppose Bailey is feeling pretty pleased with himself by that point, having just finished the book of his life, and needs to let his hair down.The book itself is, at times, an almost overwhelming study of one of the greatest American writers who ever lived. Roth was a man of his time, and many aspects of his life and work will no doubt surprise and shock a modern, offence-minded audience. Bailey leaves no stone unturned in his quest to get right to the heart of Roth. Despite its length, Bailey writes in a relaxed, easy style that makes the book a real page-turner. There are also three sections of photographs throughout the book. This is an exhaustive, scholarly and well written biography, with too many highlights to mention.Full confession - I’ve never read anything by Philip Roth, but this superb, life-affirming biography has inspired me to want to discover his work and in so doing, sort my literary life out. While Blake Bailey’s biography will no doubt become infamous, mostly for the wrong reasons, there is no getting away from the fact that it is a remarkable literary achievement that deserves to be celebrated. Sometimes perfect art is created by less than perfect people, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored.I fully recommend this book to anyone who is interested in learning more - learning everything - about a great writer and the times he defined.

This book is like a very long glossy magazine profile. It’s punchy, slick, highly readable and very enjoyable, as well as being lavishly illustrated. The emphasis is more on Roth’s character and It is not really a critical biography. Blake Bailey describes both the positive and hostile reactions to Roth's work and allows the reader to make up her own mind. However, this is a very useful book for an understanding of how autobiographical elements were the driving force behind Roth’s fiction.As a biography it provides a very convincing portrait of Philip Roth in all his contradictions. But this is an admirer’s portrait of Roth (and arguably a male-centred one), siding with the author where controversy is concerned. Someone like Claire Bloom, whose marriage to Roth famously ended in acrimony, is treated unsympathetically.Despite this biography’s length and substance there are lacunae. For example, in his discussion of Roth’s novel Operation Shylock Blake Bailey mentions the character George Ziad but omits to say that he is based on Edward Said. Said’s friendship with Roth and his admiration for works like American Pastoral is one of the components of Roth’s life missing from this biography, but then theirs was a quiet, undramatic friendship and this gossipy book tends to foreground Roth’s complicated sex life in preference to the life of the mind. And where Roth’s ambivalent attitude to Israel is concerned, Bailey’s historical framing supplies the usual tepid banalities of American liberalism, muffling the ideology of Zionism and Israel’s incarnation as a violent European settler state bent on expelling the indigenous population.There is plenty to disagree with in this book but it is nevertheless well worth reading if you are at all interested in Philip Roth’s fiction. Its crackling journalistic style makes it a very easy read. It is the kind of book that sends you back to Roth’s writing with a new understanding of the private context of his fiction.Finally, it should be acknowledged that the publication of this book was damaged by allegations made against its author, resulting in the American edition being withdrawn. This was an absurd act of censorship. Even if these allegations result in prosecution and conviction it is a fact that bad people can write good books. And to be consistent, anyone who avoids this book because of this dimension should also avoid the work of George Orwell and many other writers. As recent biography has revealed, Orwell once attempted to rape a friend, used prostitutes, and as a married man was a devious and rather creepy predator, among other things propositioning a close friend of his wife’s.

Ignore the controversy about author. The work is brilliant. It's been removed from bookshops apparently so if Amazon have it and you like Roth buy it. Don't judge it by allegations against Bailey.

Beautifully produced volume, containing numerous photographs. This is a thorough, well researched and well written biography of the late Philip Roth. I commend it to anyone who is interested in acquiring an unbiased understanding of the man and author. Very pleased to have obtained this copy via Amazon.

Product arrived damaged, which has - and I hope this is not overly dramatic - ruined my entire day, if not my week.

A through exposition of Roth's work

Boring