Reading Myself and Others

by Philip Roth, Bernhard Robben

Fascinating interviews, essays, and articles spanning a quarter century on writing, baseball, American fiction, and American Jews—from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Pastoral and one of the greatest writers of the 20th century.

"An illuminating...glimpse of the theory and practice that have made Roth a major figure in American fiction." — Chicago Daily News

Here is Philip Roth on himself and his work and the controversies it's engendered. Here too are Roth's writings on the Eastern European writers he has always championed, and so much more. The essential collection of nonfiction by a true American master, Reading Myself and Others features his famed long interview with the Paris Review .

Genres: Nonfiction, Essays, American, Literary Criticism, Criticism, Literature, Writing

320 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Philip Milton Roth was an American novelist and short-story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophically and formally blurring the distinction between reality and fiction, for its "sensual, ingenious style" and for its provocative explorations of American identity. He first gained attention with the 1959 short story collection Goodbye, Columbus, which won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction. Ten years later, he published the bestseller Portnoy's Complaint. Nathan Zuckerman, Roth's literary alter ego, narrates several of his books. A fictionalized Philip Roth narrates some of his others, such as the alternate history The Plot Against America.
Roth was one of the most honored American writers of his generation. He received the National Book Critics Circle award for The Counterlife, the PEN/Faulkner Award for Operation Shylock, The Human Stain, and Everyman, a second National Book Award for Sabbath's Theater, and the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral. In 2005, the Library of America began publishing his complete works, making him the second author so anthologized while still living, after Eudora Welty. Harold Bloom named him one of the four greatest American novelists of his day, along with Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, and Don DeLillo. In 2001, Roth received the inaugural Franz Kafka Prize in Prague.

Reviews

[Mattia Ravasi · Rating 4 out of 5]

- Recommended especially (exclusively?) to readers familiar with his early works, up to Portnoy, as most of the essays discuss them at length.
- The essays on the decay of American politics in the 70s could well have been written in the late 2010s, especially in relation to Roth's take on his president (Nixon at the time).
- The long, semi-fictional essay on Kafka is a magnificent love letter to one of literature's most tragic and hermetic figures. This last one is a must-read in a book that's otherwise, and obviously, for dedicated fans only.

[Read By RodKelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this collection worked better for me than the second, consisting as it does of interviews spanning the first 20 years or so of Philip Roth's long career. His insights about the craft of writing were consistently fresh and interested when presented as answers to questions posed in interview format. However, comparatively, his essays (which form the second half of the book) are less successful because of their highly-edited sheen, their tone being slightly professorial and pedantic. Nonetheless a wonderful tool for reflection and analysis during my journey in reading his work chronologically.

[iva°]

napuštam ju ne zato jer bi bila loša, nego jer joj nisam dorasla..
knjiga je podijeljena na dva dijela – u prvom su intervjui (1974.-1985.) vođeni s rothom (+jedan u kojem intervjuira samog sebe), a u drugom su članci i eseji (1960.-1974.).
da bi se ovu knjigu moglo čitati s razumijevanjem, potrebno je dobro poznavanje cjelokupnog rothovog opusa kojeg (za sada) nemam jer ovdje piše o svojim djelima, o kontroverzama koja su izazvali, analizira likove, njihove postupke, odnose.. i, jednostavno, ako nisi pročitao njegov opus (tj. ako ti nije svjež u glavi), ti tekstovi ne padaju na plodno, razumijevajuće tlo. čitala sam ju napreskokce, svjesna rothove veličine, ali u nemogućnosti da ju primim onako kako zavrjeđuje biti primljena.

zato, mr. roth, do neke druge prilike, nakon što se ponovno vratim tvojim sjajnim romanima...

[Φώτης Καραμπεσίνης · Rating 4 out of 5]

Δοκιμιακός Ροθ, πάντα απολαυστικός, καίτοι απαιτητικός. Γραφή πυκνή, πλήρης νοημάτων, εξαιρετικού βάθους. Από τις κορυφαίες στιγμές το κείμενο για τον Κάφκα (τι θα γινόταν, αν είχε μεταναστεύσει στις ΗΠΑ;). Ροθ, ο Αγαπημένος...

[Mariano Hortal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Esta obra del grandísimo Roth, escrita en 1976, es un compendio de artículos, entrevistas y ensayos del autor que cubren toda su primera etapa como escritor desde su Goodbye Columbus hasta Mi vida como hombre; es muy disfrutable, sobre todo, si conoces todos sus libros del inicio, aunque es cierto que su explicación de la polémica judía a raíz de El lamento de Portnoy es leíble sin conocer el libro; sin embargo creo que el mayor jugo se le puede sacar con la lectura complementaria de lo anterior, hay mucho buen humor, mucha reflexión y metaliteratura a raudales. Roth es un autor imprescindible de leer desde el punto de vista cronológico, su evolución es más clara desde esa perspectiva que leyendo puntualmente alguna obra aislada.

[Konstantinos · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://www.kathimerini.gr/806084/arti...

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Insightful pieces on Kafka; much self-justifying and pontificating.

[Vivencio · Rating 4 out of 5]

read these essays when i was young and impressionable. written in vintage roth prose - robust, eloquent and vivid - they haven't aged one bit.

[R.L. · Rating 3 out of 5]

English review below the Greek one...

Έχω διαβάσει όλα ή σχεδόν όλα τα βιβλία του συγγραφέα αν και πάνε χρόνια νομίζω πλέον. Κάποια τα έχω βρει πιο ενδιαφέρονται από άλλα, δεν μπορώ να πω ότι μου ταιριάζουν πάρα πολύ γενικά.

Η συγκεκριμένη έκδοση συνεντεύξεων και άρθρων και λόγων και σκέψεων του Ροθ σε βάζει πιο πολύ στο κλίμα για το πλαίσιο της εποχής αλλά και τον μικρόκοσμό του και τις αντιδράσεις που προκάλεσαν σε κάποιους κύκλους και το πως βλέπει την λογοτεχνία κτλ.
Ωστόσο αρκετά θέματα επαναλαμβάνονται και ήταν λίγο κουραστικό αυτό. Επίσης γίνονται πολλές αναφορές και αναλύσεις σε έργα άλλων συγγραφέων που εκεί λίγο με έχασε. Ίσως με λίγο καλύτερη κατανόηση τώρα για την Εβραϊκότητα ή μη και την πολιτική/πολιτιστική κατάσταση όταν γράφτηκαν κτλ, να πρέπει να ξαναπιάσω κάποια από τα λογοτεχνικά του έργα για να δω πως θα μου φανούν...

I've read all or nearly all Philip Roth's books, although I think it has been some years since the last time I read some of his work. I remember that I found some of them more interesting than others, although I don't think that I could connect much or they suited me much.

This specific edition features some articles, reviews, speeches and thoughts of the author. Those help to get a better understanding of the era, the political and cultural "climate" in which Roth wrote, the reactions to his books coming from various circles, how he perceived literature and so on.
But I felt that many themes get repeated again and again, so the book got a bit tiring, while Roth often refers to other works, so I often felt a bit lost.

Having this glimpse and some understanding on the Jewness or not, the political and cultural situation when and while the books were written, the author's views on various stuff etc, maybe I should revisit some of his literature to see what I'll make of it now...

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

roth is an intelligent interviewee and articulate explicator of both his own work and that of other writers, which only makes it more of a shame he was so stringently limited in his own work

[Raul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Una y otra vez da vueltas sobre lo mismo y un par de artículos interesantes. Para completistas de Philip Roth

[D Lyons · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the semi abridged version in his library of congress value. rather “mid” as they say, but with some shining moments and as always roth’s prose is excellent.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

I went full-steam ahead through the first half of this book, where Roth tends to protect his work (and his art) from the short-minded criticism of others and makes some wonderful points about concepts like the difference between writing to be read and writing for an audience. But I quickly lost my steam through Part 2, which comes across mostly as a smattering of various viewpoints that feel very much like padding to offer a full-length collection of nonfiction. The trio of introductions to the works of other writers feels overly stylized, as though groping for something to say rather than saying it. So I would suggest staying with Part One.

[Aaron · Rating 2 out of 5]

“Reading Myself” is not a great book and although well written its arguments on the public intellectual debate are dated to curiosity. The value of the book, like “Shop Talk” and the “nonfiction” memoirs, is the window it gives to the other Roth the writer, the essayist-reporter, the literary critic, the professor, and the man who does consider the lobster.

[Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really fantastic thoughts on satire and writing in general. Unfortunately, and I felt that Portnoy's Complaint confirmed this notion, Roth seems entirely consumed by his demons and his demons are his cultural and religious upbringing.

[Daniel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some interesting stuff here from early in Roth's career of historical value, and some essays focusing on other authors like Bellow and Malamud.
His piece at the end of Kafka is of interest as well.

[Louis]

This is great b/c he gets into other authors.