Between the discussions, a recording of an interview with Mr. Roth played, in which he remembered being concerned about how his parents would react to the bitter controversy that he knew was going to envelop “Portnoy’s Complaint.” “I felt I had to prepare them,” he said. So he met with them at a restaurant, where he told them that it “appears it’s going to cause a sensation,” and that they would be besieged by journalists.
Only after his mother’s death did his father reveal that after leaving the restaurant, his mother burst into tears and said, “He has delusions of grandeur.”
-“Philip Roth, Provacateur, Is Celebrated at 75,” New York Times
The other night I had a dream that Philip Roth was being especially kind to me. A friend said, “But he’s Philip Roth, you know what that means,” and I replied, “Yeah, but he’s Philip Roth!” I imagine all his conquests have a similar line of thought.
April 14, 2008 at 9:08 pm |
Just now for the first time reading the Zuckerman Bound books after picking up American Pastoral on a whim and consequently having my mind blown. How did I wait so long? The feeling, I’ll confess, is not unlike being seventeen again, staying up nights to devour Vonnegut’s life work.
He’s yet to appear in a dream though.