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The Scroll

How Philip Roth Made a Jewish American Writer of Me

Growing up in Israel, I had very clear ideas on what Jewish culture was supposed to mean. And then I read ‘Portnoy’s Complaint.’

By Ruby Namdar · May 23, 2018
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Fiction and Essays

In Defense of Philip Roth

Reconsidering the American Jewish icon as a modern master, not a stereotype

By Sidra DeKoven Ezrahi · December 12, 2016
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The Scroll

Signed Roth Books Pull Big Bucks at Auction

Portnoy’s Complaint and American Pastoral raise more than $130,000

By Stephanie Butnick · December 4, 2014
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The Scroll

Roth ‘Shocked and Pleased’ Rereading Portnoy

Admits he didn’t realize he’d never be free of its title character

By Stephanie Butnick · November 7, 2014
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The Scroll

A Map of Jewish Literary New York City

Graphic pinpoints iconic scenes from novels, writers’ homes, and more

By Stephanie Butnick · August 15, 2014
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Family

The 13 Worst Jewish Fathers in Literature, From Abraham to Mr. Portnoy

They lie. They cheat. The treat their kids terribly. This Father’s Day, be thankful your own dad is such a mensch.

By Marjorie Ingall · June 12, 2014
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The Scroll

Philip Roth Will Appear on ‘The Colbert Report’

Here’s what we imagine their on-camera conversation might look like

By Rachel Shukert · May 23, 2014
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The Scroll

When Mad Men’s Don Draper Reads Philip Roth

The fallen ad man turned to Portnoy’s Complaint on last night’s episode

By Rachel Shukert · May 5, 2014
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The Scroll

Philip Roth: The Movie

The font, the women, the self-indulgence to hit big screen

By Liel Leibovitz · January 21, 2014
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The Scroll

Remembering ‘Screw’ Publisher Al Goldstein

The original ‘bad Jewish boy’ has died at 77

By Josh Lambert · December 19, 2013
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The Scroll

Alec Baldwin and Others Read Philip Roth

Actors stage a tribute to Roth with a reading

By Adam Chandler · October 16, 2013
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Notebook

The First Time I Shot a Gun

When I decided that my next book would include a gun, I went to a firing range for the first time—and loved it

By Lev Raphael · January 29, 2013
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Book Reviews

Philip Roth’s End

Reading his last novels, I longed to dispel Roth’s gloom until I realized he wants me to just sit with it

By Brahna Siegelberg · January 24, 2013
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The Scroll

Authors Respond to Their Books Being Banned

Sendak and Roth each add their own bon mot

By Adam Chandler · October 4, 2012
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Visual Art & Design

Why Pop Art Is Jewish

A Roy Lichtenstein show at the Art Institute of Chicago reveals the movement’s affront to WASPy decorum

By Jonathan Wilson · May 21, 2012
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Book Reviews

Portnoy’s Complaint, in Analysis

Hebrew University professor Bernard Avishai’s playful new critical look at Philip Roth’s 1969 classic digs deep into the novel’s neurotic passion

By Sam Kerbel · April 24, 2012
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Book Reviews

Flower Children

Saul Bellow’s Mr. Sammler’s Planet is a document of the cravings of 1960s America, and an attempt to bring the Holocaust to bear on America

By Adam Kirsch · March 14, 2012
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The Scroll

The Facts on Philip Roth

Introducing The Rebutter

By Rachel Shukert · November 23, 2011
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Book Reviews

Roth Redux

Philip Roth’s defenders point to his later, more serious works to argue for his place in the canon. In truth, those books make clearer his weaknesses.

By Liel Leibovitz · November 22, 2011
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Book Reviews

The Grapes of Roth

Philip Roth’s legacy of writerly narcissism left a generation of young novelists with the wrong idea of what makes great literature

By Liel Leibovitz · November 15, 2011
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Book Reviews

Last Acts: The Swan Songs of Harold Bloom and Philip Roth

In the final phase of his literary life, Harold Bloom, like Philip Roth, refuses to relinquish his vitality

By Elisa New · November 8, 2011
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Book Reviews

Of the Books

After Amazon started recommending Christian novels for me, I gathered a group of Jewish friends to explore them and discovered an unexpected reconnect with spirituality

By Tamar Fox · July 6, 2011
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The Scroll

Less Interesting Jewish Books

Thank God we have better stuff to read

By Marc Tracy · May 26, 2011
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The Scroll

Roth Ain’t Quitting Yet

Fresh off Booker win, novelist honored with discussion of his latest

By Marc Tracy · May 19, 2011
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Book Reviews

Paddle Tale

In The Mighty Walzer, Howard Jacobson serves up not just the greatest ping-pong novel ever written but a rollicking portrait of mid-century Jewish Manchester

By Adam Kirsch · April 27, 2011
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The Scroll

The Gallivanting Spatula

Words Jews use

By Jeffrey Goldberg & Alana Newhouse · October 12, 2010
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Book Reviews

Crash Course

After a lifetime of avoiding Philip Roth’s books, a reader decides to see what all the fuss is about

By Eryn Loeb · October 12, 2010
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The Scroll

Sundown: Feet, Meet Mouths

Criminals, candidates, and literary giants show their true colors.

By Hadara Graubart · June 4, 2009
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Family

Stranger in a Strange Land

Giving it all up for California

By Vanessa Davis · January 9, 2009
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