Person
Every book Blake Bailey recommended on podcasts
Blake Bailey appeared on The Book Review to discuss the intricacies of biographical writing and the sprawling literary career of Philip Roth. As evident from the podcast, Bailey possesses an intimate, analytical understanding of Roth's bibliography, shaped by years of researching and writing the author's authorized biography. Bailey discussed the rapid ascent of Roth's early career, noting how Goodbye, Columbus sprang forth when Roth was twenty-five and earned him the National Book Award the following year. He traced the evolution of Roth's style, mentioning how the author attempted a Flaubertian approach in When She Was Good to successfully find his footing again after the mixed reception of Letting Go, which Bailey critiqued as largely insufferable apart from its comedic set pieces. Bailey also addressed the heavy toll of public perception, detailing how Portnoy's Complaint permanently altered how readers viewed Roth and how the author deeply regretted the persona attributed to him. Furthermore, Bailey discussed the negative portrayal of Roth in Claire Bloom's memoir Leaving a Doll's House, and touched upon Roth's personal preference for Sabbath's Theater as his finest achievement, a judgment Bailey playfully disagreed with while expressing deep admiration for The Ghost Writer.
Books recommended by Blake Bailey
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The Ghost Writer
The Ghost Writer by Philip Roth is a celebrated novel that follows a young aspiring writer visiting an older, established author, serving as the first book in the author's famous Zuckerman sequence.
Recommended“I love the ghost riter which is the first Suman novel”
Where to get it
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Goodbye, Columbus
Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth is a celebrated early collection of fiction exploring the lives and internal cultural fractures of American Jews.
Discussed“goodbye Columbus sprung from the head of Zeus when he was 25 and won him the national book award at age 26”
Where to get it
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Leaving a Doll's House
Discussed“he was very wounded by Clare Bloom's Memoir leaving a doll's house which portrayed him in an extremely negative light”
Where to get it
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Letting go
Letting Go is the first full-length novel by Philip Roth, exploring the complicated romantic, academic, and professional entanglements of young intellectuals in the American Midwest and New York during the nineteen-fifties.
Critiqued“and he wrote letting go and letting go is insufferable except for those set pieces where he's being funny”
Where to get it
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Portnoy's Complaint
Portnoy's Complaint by Philip Roth is a provocative, comedic psychological novel structured as a long monologue by a tormented Jewish bachelor confessing his sexual anxieties and familial pressures to his psychoanalyst.
Discussed“Philip always said I wish I'd never published por noise complaint because Ever After People thought I was this unserious jerk off artist”
Where to get it
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Sabbath's Theater
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.
Discussed“what did he think was his best work oh Sabbath theater hand down which which I I don't agree with by the way”
Where to get it
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When she was good
When She Was Good is a compelling novel by Philip Roth that explores complex themes of morality, familial duty, and personal disillusionment in mid-century America.
Discussed“and then he tried to be like Flo bear and he wrote when she was good and he found himself again”
Where to get it
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blake Bailey on Writing His Life of Philip Roth | The Book Review | 2024-07-18 | 7 |
Other mentions (3: passing, ad reads, own books)
“I had just finished my third biography about Charles Jackson who wrote The Lost weekend”
“and he wrote when she was good and he found himself again with with por Noy's complaint”
“William gas wrote a um very costic review of what was it the Great American novel and Ever After”