Blake Bailey | Philip Roth: The Biography

Recorded April 12, 2021
In conversation with Don Winslow, New York Times bestselling author of The Border, The Force, The Cartel, Power of the Dog, Savages, and Broken, his new collection of six short novels.
Blake Bailey is acclaimed for his “meticulously researched, judicious, and critically perceptive” (Boston Globe) biographies of some of the 20th century’s most complicated writers, including John Cheever, Charles Jackson, and Richard Yates. His many honors include the National Book Critics Circle Award, an Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, a Guggenheim fFellowship, and his memoir, The Splendid Things We Planned: A Family Portrait, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Autobiography. Through Bailey’s exclusive access to Philip Roth and Roth’s archivescoupled with complete independence, Bailey’s latest book charts Philip Roth’s arc from lower-middle-class Newark, New Jersey to his position as one of America’s towering literary figures.

[@e.l.s.3048]

I bought my copy of the biography but I will not read it until I've read every Philip Roth novel. To date, I have read 7 of them. So far, this reading exercise has been fun. I'm pacing myself at 1 novel per week.

[@marypladsen5231]

bless you

[@wlsallnight]

Impressive bio, glad I pre-ordered.

[@BNardolilli]

hold onto it, could go up in value

[@asynchronicity]

“What has been on such gruesome display in the Bailey story (and so many others) is not the failure of individuals who have been harmed to speak up to protect others; it’s the broader failure of anyone in power to care when they do.”

[@drakelondon6849]

Who cares? Does his so-called "gruesome" behavior in any way negate his scholarship or writing ability? If he were a plagiarist, then by all means, stop the publication of his book. But there were plenty of great artists and writers who were less than morally impeccable, to say the least. This should not detract from the greatness of their work. That's all that matters: the work.

[@asynchronicity]

@@drakelondon6849
“The work! The work!”
Haha

[@drakelondon6849]

@@asynchronicity Precisely.

[@lizlondonartist1]

Fantastic interview.
Thanks for leaving it up.
Innocent until proven guilty..
Me too.

[@JeffRebornNow]

I have read almost all of Roth's books, including his autobiography, and his book about his relationship with his father, called "Patrimony." Why would I want to read a biography of a writer who dealt exhaustively in his books with his personal history? It would be an exercise in redundancy.

[@BNardolilli]

This sounds like something Roth would say

[@JeffRebornNow]

@@BNardolilli I don't know why Roth bothered with this guy. He couldn't possibly have as much insight into Roth as Roth himself had. And I doubt his style is equal to Roth's. (Thank you for saying my comment was reminiscent of PR. Perhaps I unconsciously imitated him?)

[@rubyparchment5523]

Roth's PATRIMONY and Roz Chast's works expose the realities of aging. Go ahead and run, work out, eat kale, and play word games. You can't escape it.

[@JeffRebornNow]

@@rubyparchment5523 On the other hand, Roth himself lived to be 85 without any diminution of his critical faculties and he was still producing excellent works of art into his 70s. But time, alas, only runs in one direction, and is famous for running out on all of us.

[@edgarkenna5341]

I thought Exit Ghost was genius

[@lewisc215]

his book was banned

[@marypladsen5231]

I asked my son to order Bailey's book for me for Christmas the year it came out. A great gift. A prized possession.

[@josee4283]

yuck