American novelist and short story writer, Philip Roth, was born to an American family with Jewish roots on 19th of March 1933. He is considered to be an eminent figure of the 20th century in literature. Critics have often criticized him for exploring the contentious issues in his literary works.
He grew up in a middle-class Jewish family of Weequahic neighborhood of Newark. He received his early education from Newark public schools then enrolled himself in Bucknell University for Bachelors in Arts degree. Here he founded a magazine named Et Cetera and had his early stories published in it. Before his post-graduation, Roth briefly served in U.S Arm Forces. Afterwards, he continued his higher education and obtained Masters in English Literature from the University of Chicago.
He started his professional career as a teacher as he taught English at the University of Chicago. Later he gave lessons on creative writing in Princeton and Iowa University. At the University of Pennsylvania he taught comparative literature. While teaching, he published a story titled Defender of the Faith (1957) which earned Roth an anti-Semitic status by the Jews. In 1959, he proved himself as a writer with the publication of his debut novella Goodbye, Columbus. The book is a portrayal of post-war American Jews’ life, employing wit and irony. He won National Book Award for fiction but failed some Jewish communities who condemned his depiction of their life.
Philip Roth penned a full-fledged novel Letting Go in 1962 which surveys the societal and ethical issues of 1950s in America. Roth couldn’t stay away from controversies for longer, as he published another such novel Portnoy’s Complaint (1969). The novel is a comic illustration of Alexander Portnoy’s middle-class Jewish life. The provocative and sexual content of the book had gotten itself a scandalous status, although earned Roth notorious fame.
Later Roth experimented with the idea of incorporating alter-ego in his novels. He introduced a writer named Nathan Zuckerman as his alter-ego in several novels. The first appearance of the character is made in The Ghost Writer (1979). Later Nathan is featured again in The Anatomy Lesson and Zuckerman Unbound (1981). Despite the fact that many had drawn parallels between Roth and Zuckerman, Roth denied the presence of autobiographical elements in his novels.
In 1995, he produced another successful novel Sabbath’s Theatre which demonstrates the story of a puppeteer whose lover’s death brought him unbearable pain and wisdom. Yet again Roth earned the National Book Award for the book. In American Pastoral (1997) he revives Nathan Zuckerman to elucidate a story of Jewish businessman. Roth won the most prestigious accolade for this novel, Pulitzer Prize for fiction. The respect and fame encouraged Roth to compose sequels to the novel which include I Married a Communist (1998) and The Human Stain (2000).
One of the major themes in Philip Roth’s work is status of American Jewish identity which he investigates very brashly and forthrightly in his works. Moreover, the semi-autobiographic nature of his works calls attention to the complexity of author’s own identity, who does not want to be identified with his Jewish heritage and their customs. His other recognized and more recent works include The Plot Against America (2004), Everyman (2006), Indignation, The Humbling (2009) and Nemesis (2010). Roth twice won National Book Award, PEN/Faulkner Award, Franz Kafka Prize and WH Smith Literary Award.
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