Remembering Roth

By: James Atlas

Narrated by: James Atlas

To most audiences, Philip Roth is a literary icon, author of probing, provocative works like American Pastoral, Portnoy’s Complaint, and Goodbye, Columbus. But to James Atlas, Philip Roth was more than just a writer—he was a friend.

In 1977, when he was 28, James Atlas published his first book, a biography of the poet Delmore Schwartz, and was stunned to receive a congratulatory letter from Philip Roth. He had been moved by the tragic story it told.

Thus began a friendship that lasted, with a few intervals, until Roth's death. Roth was living in rural Connecticut then, having exiled himself from the literary noise of Manhattan in order to focus on his work, and was on his own. He invited Atlas to come visit, which he did—the first of numerous pilgrimages to the Roth homestead. They remained close for nearly two decades, reading each other’s work, wandering the streets of the West Side—Roth had an apartment on Atlas’s block—and commiserating about the solitary rigors of the writer’s life. Atlas helped Roth with The Ghost Writer; Roth helped Atlas learn how to live.

The snag came when Roth suggested Atlas write the biography of Saul Bellow, and then became unhappy with the result, a book that was sympathetic but also tough—perhaps at times too tough—on its subject. Bellow had become Roth's literary hero. They drifted apart, though toward the end of his life they were both thinking about whether Atlas should write his biography. In the end, they both decided it wasn’t a good idea, but Atlas always knew he would write about him someday. Funny, brilliant, raucous, tender, he was the most charismatic person Atlas ever knew. Remembering Roth is his valedictory.

©2018 James Atlas (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

A Glimpse at a Famous Friendship

I never got to meet Philip Roth. I never even got to see him read from a distance. I did read him, extensively, and I did get to write and lecture a fair bit about him. (Shameless plug: my summative lecture on his career is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqZf7G32kcE&t=12s ) I was demographically like a lot of his younger friends – that is, like Adam Gopnik and James Atlas, I’m a Jewish writer (Atlas even went to my cousins’ high school – but somehow I never got the chance to hang out with him.

I still regret that, but I’m grateful to Atlas for giving me a sense of what I missed.

Above all, there’s confirmation of what I’ve heard often before: Roth was, in person, one of the most charming and magnetic personalities you can imagine. He enjoyed Atlas’s early biography of Delmore Schwartz, wrote Atlas to tell him, and the two became friends.

This isn’t long at all – it’s an extended essay as much as an almost-book – but it’s rich in detail about Roth’s humor, in both its good and ill dimensions.

My favorite amusing anecdote is from the time Atlas saw Roth sitting to talk with Mets first baseman Keith Hernandez. When Roth asked Hernandez how he was able to play so well on the field, Hernandez said, “It’s mental.” When Hernandez asked Roth how he was able to write so well, he answered, “It’s physical.”

Another winner comes when Roth asks Atlas to join him in the country with the “rich and famous.” “But I’m neither of those,” Atlas replies. “I know,” says Roth, “but they hate you as it you were.”

There are many others, though, and Atlas does a fine job of not overdoing their shared cleverness. It’s two men who enjoyed talking with another.

And then, in ways also famously characteristic of Roth, it isn’t. Atlas can’t put his finger on what soured their friendship. It may have been Atlas’s perhaps too aggressive biography of Saul Bellow, and it might just have been Roth aging into irascibility, but they stopped being as close.

This part of the memoir works just as well as the beginning. It shows the two continuing their friendship but in strained fashion. In a poignant moment, Roth writes him as “James” rather than as “Jim,” and Atlas sighs at the implication of estrangement.

In the end, Atlas is sad to think he’s not one of the thirty friends gathered around Roth’s bedside at his death – thirty being a very large number for a man who claimed so often to be alone, and a number large enough for Atlas to think he might have been part of it.

Atlas tells us he was in the running to write Roth’s biography, and I’m confident he’d have done a good job. What we have here, though, is something else. It may be slighter than a full biography, but it seems more personal than any biography could have been. It’s the account of a strong writer coming to terms with what it meant to be friends with one of the great voices of our time.

self absorbed eulogist remembers Roth

the bottom line is it's worth listening to but fails to deliver much insightful or interesting information. I suspect Atlas does speak for many Roth syncophants.

An Eulogy to be inferred from what is implied

This is a good insight into the evolving relationship between James Atlas, the narrator/author, and Phillip Roth. Atlas, in general, idolizes Roth. It listens like a long, extended eulogy with some interesting flashbacks to difficult or complementary times in their mutual association as writer-potential-biographer-artist-critics. There's a lot about both author's Jewish heritage that I did not understand, but that is to be expected. Overall, it felt like listening to someone talk about a famous college friend or colleague he hasn't seen in a while, even though they used to be close. Which I guess, is what it is. :)

Interesting Insights

If you like Roth you'll appreciate a friend's perspective on his life. I'm only familiar with two of his works but as far as a short read goes, it was interesting to get to know him from an insider's point of view. It adds to the appreciation of his stories.

review

didn't like the narrator very much. his diction is not very clear, made it hard to understand sometimes.

Sweet, bittersweet, and affecting

If you share Atlas’s high opinion of Roth’s books, you will value this opportunity to learn what it was like to be Roth’s close admirer and friend - a mixed experience, told without rancor.

The author is not a professional-level narrator but it’s his story and it’s right that we’re hearing it from him.

Content was great...just too little. A short read

WAY too short but touching and well told. Would like to see more from the author.

Intimate and raw story about a long and fraught friendship

Atlas’ chronicle of his friendship with Roth gave me new insight into Philip Roth as a man, but it offers much more than that as a reflection on the vicissitudes of our relationships. I especially enjoyed hearing Atlas read it in his own voice tenderly.

Poorly Narrated

Although quite brief, this biography of Philip Roth was a good story with a nice amount of information I didn’t know about Roth as I am rather new to much of his work.
I did not enjoy the narration at all. Atlas’s attempt at a Yiddish accent was horrendous. I wondered if he had a speech impediment which was unpleasant to hear.

Better than average

Introduction into the thinking and writing of Phillip Roth started out a bit slow and then became q writing of an empathetic nature. The frustration of being a writer and the author beside the subject challenges. An excellent description of the mindset. How to write a biography of a friendship that grew strong and had begun withering over subsequent months and years. The author Atlas presents the narration with limited enthusiasm, yet with compassion towards understanding his friend and himself. I enjoyed the audio format.