Nadel's research is so thorough that even Beth Roth's recipe for marble pound cake appears in full in the endnotes (chapter 8, note 101). There will be other biographies of Roth and his work, biographies that offer different understandings, but they will likely always find themselves competing with this volume, which for now at least is in the class of the heavyweights. * J. A. Zoller, emeritus, Houghton College *
This deeply thought book is rich with information and insight and will be a huge benefit to the scholarly community mushrooming up around Roth's works as well as to the general reader interested in the riveting life of an important American writer. * Brett Ashley Kaplan, Cercle *
Sizeable, solidly researched, intelligently wrought. * London Review of Books *
In its critical substance DL scholarship and literary insight - it's really a better book, a more understanding book, than Bailey's. * Josh Gidding, Metapsychology.net *
Well researched and clearly written... full of insights. * Jewish Chronicle *
Ira Nadel's Philip Roth: A Counterlife is an intense and illuminating study of the life, times, and work of the Jewish man from Newark who became one of America's most original and provocative writers. * Kristine Morris, Foreword Reviews *
In Philip Roth: A Counterlife, Ira Nadel exposes the multifaceted disposition of this major voice in American letters: Roth the realist, the ironist, the ventriloquist, the impersonator, the bard. In navigating the intricacies and dualities of the public and private Roth, Nadel shows the complexities, the contradictions, and the counterlives both lived and imagined. As literary sleuth, Nadel has enriched the myriad possibilities for understanding this exacting and defiant writer and his work. * Victoria Aarons, O.R. & Eva Mitchell Distinguished Professor of Literature, Department of English, Trinity University *
Professor Nadel's study is always very readable and compelling but its discussion of material that has never been accessed before is particularly exciting. * David Brauner, Professor of Contemporary Literature, The University of Reading *
Philip Roth: A Counterlife engages and illuminates the scenes of discontent, betrayal, illness, and rage in Roth's own life that allow for new understandings of his work and relationships. Drawing on such primary source material as interviews, personal correspondence, and site visits, Nadel's biography penetrates the carefully composed narrative Roth presented publicly in order to present a counter Philip Roth, one who is at once more sympathetic to his readers than critics realize and more dynamic than even his self-creation allows. Nadel seamlessly weaves his interpretations of Roth's most provocative texts into the story of Roth's own life: a life shadowed by pain, illness, and personal injustices, but also illuminated by the joys of writing, ideas, and friendships that will persist long after his death. * Aimee Pozorski, Co-executive editor of Philip Roth Studies, Professor of English, Central Connecticut State University *
