Let's tell the truth, Roth is a great paradox.

He writes this book for himself at the age of 55, in the midst of his success and the well-being that success has brought him. Why does he write it? Does he want to give the image of a quiet writer who, having become bourgeois, desires to rehabilitate his past? Make peace with the part of his life against which he has fought? The family, Judaism, the humble origins. Prove that he is not his characters even though his writing stems from autobiographical facts. In short, appear boring and rather passive compared to the exciting and significant events of his life. But to whom does he want to give it to drink? Without Zuckerman, to whom he sends a long accompanying letter of the manuscript, asking him if it is appropriate to publish it, Roth exists halfway. Without writing, Roth exists halfway. It is through the continuous shaping of reality and through the voices of his characters that Roth acquires strength, anger, vitality, eroticism, credibility. And Zuckerman tells him this, the deus ex machina who literally and literarily resolves a book that otherwise would not have the meaning it has: to be an essay on the idea of literature of our dear author, like The Counterlife before and Deception after. In the end, the genius lies in showing the reader that reading has nothing to do with the interest in the author. Everything that is interesting is black on white on his pages. The facts, they do not exist.

Should you care about the life story of novelist Phillip Roth? I've read several of his books. Goodbye Columbus and Portnoy's Complaint were my early introductions, and Everyman remains my all-time favorite. I've also relished listening to him in interviews. I found this book worthy of reading as it is so redolent of and parallel to my father's Bronx immigrant Jewish world and his experience of transitioning from that world into the broader American one.

Like my father, Roth married a troubled woman from outside the tribe and achieved professional success. Roth is approximately 6 years younger than my father was, and there are numerous other differences between the life stories of a Newark-born novelist and a Bronx-born scientist. However, the informative parallels to my father's early experiences held my interest.

Roth structures this 1988 account of his life (at age 55) with a critique by one of his characters, Zuckerman, whose stories I haven't read yet. Zuckerman accuses Roth of duplicity and dishonesty, questions his motives, accuracy, and the value of his entire autobiographical project. All of this seems a bit defensive on Roth's part, a grand attempt to demonstrate that he views a form that claims a petty allegiance to facts as inferior to a form like the novel rooted in a fully imaginary world, and thus capable of speaking more truthfully about real human truths. Okay Roth, if you need to do that, I won't object, and it's moderately interesting to hear you yell at yourself in the voice of Zuckerman.

But the straightforward autobiography in the central chapters is truly valuable in its own right. And I'm not sure we need quite so many words from Zuckerman to remind us that non-fiction is a bigger lie than fiction. We understand, and most of us can move on from that realization to enjoy an autobiographical tale and an evocation of time, place, and human experience like this, fully aware that it is a subjective telling by definition. Your childhood in Newark, college experiences at Bucknell, and that crazy woman you chose to marry, "The Girl of Your Dreams," are, even in the filtered, other-protective, and self-protective form you present them, informative about where and how your consciousness emerged and was shaped. They are history, not fiction, however warped by the mind of a man who mostly believes in fiction. They deepen rather than distract from my understanding of your fiction. Zuckerman's commentary is entertaining, but the fellow does go on a bit in an unnecessary demonstration of how well you've thought through the essential problematicity of autobiography. For my part, I enjoyed your auto-telling well enough on its own half-honest historical terms. Sometimes a life story is just a life story and valuable on its face.

I truly enjoyed the illumination you provide on who Phillip Roth, the man, was and is.

In the very first pages, Roth writes a letter to Zuckerman, his literary alter ego, telling him the reason why he has written this book and asking him whether in his opinion it should be published.

Having passed fifty and recovering from a severe nervous exhaustion, Roth attempts to summarize his life and figure out the question of how he became a novelist. He tries to strip himself of being a novelist and tell some important facts of his life that have inspired the plots of his first novels and describe the episodes that have influenced his choices.

We start from 1944 and Roth's relationship with his father, continuing with the years at Joe College and the fraternities; his first steady girlfriend, Polly; his friendship with Richard Stern, Thomas Rogers and Ted Solotaroff; his relationship with his brother, Sandy; his marriage to Margaret Martinson (whom he calls Josie Jensen here), the turbulent years; his ties with his mother and his uncle; his controversial relationship with the Jewish community, his second marriage and the difficulty in playing the role of a "husband".

We perfectly understand from the account where he has drawn from to write his novels: in Roth's writings, there is Philip Roth, completely. He draws material from life to write, so why try to write an autobiography? Zuckerman tells him the same in the final 35 pages, which I think are very beautiful.

"Existence is not always there calling for the novelist's intervention. Sometimes it just asks to be lived."

I always come out different, changed, from Roth's books. They are profound human journeys.

My personal advice is to read this after having read everything he has written before 1988 in order to be able to link the episodes well to his novels. But it is already known that I like to read "by feeling", so I am happy as I am, having added another piece to the knowledge of Philip Roth, of whom I absolutely want to read everything.

I think this might just have been the most ingenious book I've ever perused.

Indeed, the autobiography is highly engaging (and I found myself uncannily identifying with the part regarding Josie and the antagonistic ex-girlfriend...).

However, what truly elevates this book to a masterpiece is the section towards the end where Nathan Zuckerman, one of Roth's recurrent characters, offers a critique of the very autobiography that Roth has just penned!

It was uproariously funny and astutely incisive - and it truly unified the entire book!

This unique literary device added an extra layer of depth and complexity to the narrative, making it not only a captivating read but also a thought-provoking exploration of the nature of autobiography and self-reflection.

Roth's ability to create such a meta-narrative within his work is truly remarkable and showcases his mastery of the written word.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough to anyone who appreciates great literature.

A Fun Autobiography.

Although I would have liked it to be more focused on her literature.

This autobiography offers an interesting look into the life of the author.

It contains many engaging stories and anecdotes that keep the reader entertained.

However, as a literature enthusiast, I felt that it could have delved deeper into her literary works and the creative process behind them.

Despite this, the autobiography still provides valuable insights into the author's personality and experiences.

It shows how she overcame challenges and achieved success in her chosen field.

Overall, it is a worthwhile read, especially for those interested in the author's life and career.

Perhaps in a future edition, the author could consider adding more details about her literature to make it even more comprehensive.

“An autobiography is probably the most manipulable of literary genres.”

This assertion is found on the pages of this book and seems anomalous, just like many other elements of this particular work. Read just a few months after the great Maestro's passing, it evokes both kindness and emotion in the face of the vitality and energy that flow abundantly within it.

First of all, it is anomalous for a novelist to publish his own autobiography when he is still halfway through his production (I have verified, it is exactly the halfway point! 14 novels written before “The Facts”, 14 written after, if we calculate the wonderful “ Patrimony” which has several points in common with this book), and when he still has to produce most of his masterpieces.

Then, even in a text that would seem deliberately aseptic ("…a book faithful to the facts, a distillation of facts that renounces the fury of the imagination, can bring to light meanings that the novelistic approach had obscured, expanded or perhaps distorted"), the showman Roth cannot resist the literary cliffhanger aimed at astonishing the reader: after telling “the facts” in the form of a sort of letter sent to his character/alter ego Nathan Zuckerman, presenting them in an approximately chronological order, about twenty pages from the end the autobiography ends, but it is followed by a caustic response document from Zuckerman!

It is the character who retorts to his author, refuting many of his claims, making fun of the image of himself that he wanted to show us readers (so that, in some way, we become part of this three-person theater!), rehabilitating characters (or rather real people, since it is still an autobiography) that R. has mistreated during the narration, first and foremost the “terrible” first wife who the writer places at the origin of heavy inner torments and economic troubles, and so on.

The result is at the same time erudite and disconcerting, diverting and ambiguous, so that the profound impression remains of having read not an autobiography but precisely another novel by the author.

Naturally, the dominant elements of the book are those that one could have expected: Judaism and the family, culture and the first approaches to the activity of writer, women: in retracing episodes of his own life, Roth highlights how they were models for works such as “My Life as a Man, When She Was Good, Portnoy's Complaint, The Counterlife, The Ghost Writer…” But in other cases he cites situations that will only find a place in a novel much later, such as for example the clashes with school and university authorities that prelude to the acrobatic exchanges of insults in “Indignation”.

In short, this book is a mine for fans of the author, but I wonder what effect it might have on those who do not know his novels or, even worse, hate them.

A brilliant, absolutely brilliant exploration of the entire realm of writing memoir/autobiography. It delves deep into a novelist's relationship with 'the truth' and the complex dilemmas and ethics involved in mining one's own life as a source of fiction. Roth is indeed a controversial figure. One or two of his more mean-spirited and misogynistic works fail to gain my favor. However, based on what I have thus far read from the rest of his extensive body of work, I find his style, his 'honesty' with himself as a person, a man, and a writer, to be staggeringly impressive.

His ability to剖析 his own experiences and emotions with such clarity and authenticity is truly remarkable. It makes one question the very nature of truth in literature and how much of our own lives we are willing to expose in our writing.

This is my video review:

https://youtu.be/6oceWVPNWNY

I had a lot of trouble caring about the story. The rugpull at the end was kind of cool, but it wasn't enough to make up for the overall lack of engagement. When you've read enough of his thinly veiled autobiographies, the real thinly obscured autobiography just doesn't have the same impact. It's like you've seen it all before. However, I have to admit that the author can write. His prose is smooth and engaging, and he has a real talent for creating vivid characters and settings. But for me, the story just didn't hold up. It felt too derivative and predictable, and I never really connected with the characters or their struggles.

**Original Article**: The importance of recycling cannot be emphasized enough. It helps reduce waste, conserve natural resources, and protect the environment. By recycling, we can also save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

**Expanded Article**:

The significance of recycling cannot be overstated. It plays a crucial role in multiple aspects. Firstly, it effectively helps in reducing the amount of waste that ends up in landfills or incinerators. This not only saves valuable landfill space but also minimizes the negative impacts associated with waste disposal.

Secondly, recycling is essential for conserving natural resources. Many materials that we recycle, such as paper, plastic, and metal, can be reused to make new products. By doing so, we reduce the need to extract and process virgin resources, which in turn helps to protect the environment and preserve our natural habitats.

Finally, recycling also has a significant impact on energy conservation and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Recycling usually requires less energy compared to producing new products from raw materials. This reduction in energy consumption leads to a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions, which is crucial for combating climate change and protecting our planet for future generations.

A very long 195-page book lies before me. It is filled to the brim with Roth's excessively whiny apologetics. In the classical sense, this means making arguments for what one believes to be so. However, Roth's style comes across as overly complaining and tiresome.

As I'm reading through this book, I can't help but feel a sense of annoyance. The constant stream of his self-justifications seems to go on and on without end.

Oh, and by the way, I'm missing the Belgium-Portugal game. I really need to take a break and catch up on that. I'll be back in a while to continue this arduous task of plowing through Roth's verbose writing.

I hope that when I return, I'll be able to find some glimmer of interest or value in this otherwise rather unappealing book. But for now, it's off to watch the game!

I was sitting at my desk, trying to read this book. But to my surprise, I actually dozed off while reading. I lost half an hour of my precious afternoon. However, there was one redeeming factor. The nap I took, which was perhaps induced by my Roth, involved a mildly erotic dream. When I finally woke up, I found that my right arm was completely dead. I had slumped over the edge of my desk, and that's why my arm felt so numb. To make matters worse, I discovered that there was drool running from the corner of my mouth. I'm really not sure why I picked up this book to read in the first place. It was a completely random act. In fact, aside from the final section, I had to force myself to get through the pages. It was a real struggle.

I think I made a mistake when starting this book. Philip Roth is a legend in the world of American literature, so biographies about some of these authors have always interested me. The thing is that it makes many references to his work, a body of work that I haven't read. It has always been one of my eternal pending tasks, and in this sense, I have made an error.

Nevertheless, I like his writing style, his way of telling things. Maybe I will approach one of his novels, and then I will come back to this reading, and surely I will see it from another perspective.

In the end, I have so many unfinished things that I think one life won't be enough for me.