He’s got plenty to say about pal Roth
Somehow, it feels like Philip Roth has never left us.
He died last May, and his death spurred renewed interest in his huge collection of work. The same year, Lisa Halliday’s debut novel, “Asymmetry,” became an instant bestseller — largely because her main character was based on Roth, with whom she’d had a romantic relationship. Recently, the 92nd Street Y in New York also presented a six-hour reading of Roth’s “The Plot Against America.”
And now, “Remembering Roth” by James Atlas has been released by Audible. The memoir — spoken by the author — is based on the two men’s decades-long friendship, which began when the former was just 28 and Roth wrote him a fan letter about Atlas’ biography of poet Delmore Schwartz. The relationship lasted four decades and was not uncomplicated. But there was true affection.
Even for Roth enthusiasts, the audiobook sheds new light on this enigmatic man who took us from the complaints of Portnoy to the ruminations of Zuckerman, whose tempestuous marriage to Claire Bloom (“I made a mistake falling in love with a British woman,” he confessed to Atlas) led to nasty “he said, she said” published interpretations, and who, as Atlas says, “was the most charismatic man I ever met.”
Atlas does not deny that Roth sucked the oxygen out of most every conversation but asks, “What did it matter? You could breathe later.” He also acknowledges that one never quite knew when Roth was kidding. “There was a sharp edge to his banter that could draw blood,” Atlas says. He movingly shares his subject’s profound sense of isolation, which, Roth told him, had led to a nervous breakdown: “I’d never have become a writer if I knew how lonely it was.” After the breakup with Bloom, and some scathing reviews, he checked into a mental institution for several weeks. He even asked Atlas at one point if there might be a job available for him on a copy desk of the New York Times. It seems preposterous to imagine.
Atlas’ last meeting with, and memories of, this towering author are touching. Roth had lost his wallet and asked Atlas to lend him some money. His life had clearly grown lonelier than ever. “Everyone I know is dead,” he told Atlas, saying that his days consisted of watching Rachel Maddow, following the Yankees and dealing with physical decline.
“Old age isn’t a battle,” he said . “It’s a massacre.”