Archives: Philip Roth

Farewell, Philip Roth; Mencken on the language; how we got Sherlock, and more: newsletter, May 25, 2018

May 28, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, journalism, newsletter, writers, writing.

This newsletter was emailed to everyone on Jim’s email list (3,081) on May 25, 2018 Thanks to all who wrote or commented on Facebook about the dulcimer that I made and showed off in last week’s newsletter. I am going to start on another one before long. Sadly, for the second week in a • Read More »

Tags: Arthur Conan Doyle, Claude Monet, dulcimer, Eugene Delacrois, Goodbye Columbus, H.L. Mencken, impressionists, J.M.W. Turner, Matthew Rosza, Philip Roth, Project Gutenberg, Saalon.com, Sherlock Holmes, The American Language, urban sketchers, watercolor, William H. Seward

Philip Roth, 1933-2018

May 23, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: fiction, journalism, writers, writing.

The death of Philip Roth on Tuesday (May 22) removes one of the great names from the living giants of American letters. In fact, many consider him to be the last of those giants, and they may well be right. Obituaries in the New York Times, Washington Post, and many other publications have praised and • Read More »

Tags: Goodbye Columbus, Philip Roth

Readers track down more crimes against English; Ross Macdonald; newsletter, Jan. 19, 2018

January 22, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: newsletter.

This newsletter was sent to everyone on Jim’s email list (4,379) on Friday, Jan. 19, 2018. Hi, Winter has settled in in a big way in my part of the world. Plenty of time for indoor activities, the most important of which is reading. But that’s not the only one. Some writing and some painting • Read More »

Tags: caricatures, Charles McGrath, crimes against English, Dashiell Hammett, Dirty John, Lew Archer, Lincoln-Douglas debates, New York Times, Philip Roth, Phillip Marlowe, podcasts, private detective, private eye, Raymond Chandler, Ross Macdonald, Sam Spade, The Plot Against America, true crime podcasts, verbs, watercolor, writing life

Don’t miss this NYT interview with Philip Roth

January 17, 2018 | By Jim Stovall | No Comments | Filed in: books, fiction, writers, writing.

Author Philip Roth, now nearly 85 and retired from writing, has given an interview to New York Times journalist Charles McGrath, and it is fascinating. Roth talks about what it was like to be a writer: Exhilaration and groaning. Frustration and freedom. Inspiration and uncertainty. Abundance and emptiness. Blazing forth and muddling through. The day-by-day • Read More »

Tags: Charles Lindbergh, Charles McGrath, New York Times, Philip Roth, reading, The Plot Against America, writing, writing a book