Philip Roth

"""Sizeable, solidly researched, intelligently wrought."" -- London Review of Books ""In its critical substance DL scholarship and literary insight DS it's really a better book, a more understanding book, than Bailey's."" -- Josh Gidding, Metapsychology.net ""Well researched and clearly written... full of insights."" -- Jewish Chronicle ""Ira Nadel's Philip Roth: A Counterlife is an intense and illuminating study of the life, times, and work of the Jewish man from Newark who became one of America's most original and provocative writers."" -- Kristine Morris, Foreword Reviews, Starred Review ""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."" -- Victoria Aarons, O.R. & Eva Mitchell Distinguished Professor of Literature, Department of English, Trinity University ""Professor Nadel's study is always very readable and compelling but its discussion of material that has never been accessed before is particularly exciting."" -- David Brauner, Professor of Contemporary Literature, The University of Reading ""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."" -- Aimee Pozorski, Co-executive editor of Philip Roth Studies, Professor of English, Central Connecticut State University ""An admiring and well-researched yet selective account of a great writer's career.""--Kirkus ""An unrestrained portrait of an irascible figure, Nadel's account is an enlightening addition to the understanding of a major American writer.""--Publishers Weekly ""Well researched and clearly written... full of insights.""--Jewish Chronicle ""Ira Nadel's Philip Roth: A Counterlife is the book we've been waiting for. It's revealing, perceptive, sensitive, sensible, and immensely readable, a triumph of insight and scholarship.""--Jewish Book Council ""Sizeable, solidly researched, intelligently wrought.""--London Review of Books"