Why people recommend it
Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth is a provocative and darkly humorous novel centered on a aging, disgraced puppeteer grappling with grief, mortality, and his own destructive impulses. On The Book Review podcast, guest John Williams discussed nearly finishing the intense narrative, calling it a book recommended by friends that he had meant to read for years. Dwight Garner described the novel as one of the rawest works in the author's bibliography. In another episode, Marc Maron shared an anecdote about borrowing a hardback copy of the book from a friend and finding only a single underlined sentence inside. Additionally, biographer Blake Bailey appeared on the show to discuss the author's personal belief that this specific novel stood as his absolute finest artistic achievement, despite some critical debate surrounding that claim.
Who recommended it
- John Williams Discussed
- Dwight Garner Discussed
- Marc Maron Discussed
- Blake Bailey Discussed
John Williams — 3 mentions
“and then I have probably about 20 pages left in um Sabbath theater by Philip Roth which I should just emphasize again”
“uh I am still in Sabbath's theater by Philip Roth”
“so I started Sabbath's Theater which is from 1995 I think and a book that a couple of my friends really love and that I've been meaning to read for a long time”
Dwight Garner — 1 mention
“I mean it's just one of the rawest things um um Sabbath theater”
Marc Maron — 1 mention
“he lent me Philip Roth's Sabbath theater M which is a pretty big book it's an odd book for Philip Roth It's a great Philip Roth book he went me his hardback of that and in the whole book there was one sentence underlined”
Blake Bailey — 1 mention
“what did he think was his best work oh Sabbath theater hand down which which I I don't agree with by the way”
Also mentioned in the same episodes
- Goodbye, Columbus
- Letting go
- Lincoln in the Bardo
- Portnoy's Complaint
- The Ghost Writer
- The Plot Against America
Other mentions (1: passing, ad reads, own books)
“sounds like Sabbath's theater”