Saturday, June 2, 2018

Acclaimed Author Philip Roth Dies at 85


A former sales manager with Plaza Packaging Corporation, Morton Landowne serves as executive director of Nextbook Inc. and Publisher of Tablet Magazine, an online publication that garners more than 2 million monthly visits. An avid reader, Morton Landowne considers Philip Roth one of his favorite authors. 

A Pulitzer Prize-winning writer who has been regarded as one of the most acclaimed 20th-century American authors, Roth passed away as a result of a congestive heart failure on May 22. He was with his close friends and family and was visited by fellow writers in his final days. A lifelong student of American history, Roth is perhaps best known for his tireless exploration of male sexuality through fictional characters like David Kepesh and Alexander Portnoy. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his book American Pastoral.

No stranger to provoking pieces of fiction, Roth earned mainstream recognition in 1959 with the publication of the National Book Award-winning Goodbye, Columbus. He also authored controversial books such as The Plot Against America, Everyman, and I Married a Communist. His last novel, Nemesis, was published in 2012, following which he spent his free time swimming, reading, and engaging in conversation with friends.