Philip Roth: Fiction and Power - Hardcover

Hayes, Patrick

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0199689121 ISBN 13: 9780199689125

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2014

Synopsis

Philip Roth is widely acknowledged as one of the defining authors in the literature and culture of post-war America. Yet he has long been a polarising figure and throughout his long career he has won the disapproval of an extremely diverse range of public moralists -- including, it would seem, the Nobel Prize committee. Far from seeking to make Roth a more palatable writer, Patrick Hayes argues that Roth's interest in transgressing against the 'virtue racket', as one of his characters put it, defines his importance. Placing the vehemence and unruliness of human passions at the heart of his writing, Roth is the most subtle exponent of a line of thinking that descends from Nietzsche and which values the arts for their capacity to scrutinise life in an extra-moral way. Philip Roth: Fiction and Power explores the depth and richness of insight that Roth's fiction thereby generates, and defines what is at stake in his challenge to widely-held assumptions about the ethical value of literature. As well as examining how Roth emerged as a writer and his main lines of influence, it considers his impact on questions about the nature and value of tragedy, the relevance of art to life, the relationship between art and the unconscious, the concept of the author, the idea of a literary canon, and how fiction can illuminate America's complex post-war history. It will appeal not only to readers of American literature, but to anyone interested in why literature matters.

About this title

About the Author:

Patrick Hayes teaches literature in English from the eighteenth-century to the present day at St John's College, Oxford. His previous work includes J.M. Coetzee and the Novel (2010).

Review:

Philip Roth: Fiction and Power offers a wealth of complex readings across Roth's entire oeuvre. It also shows an illuminating view on this prominent author's intricate creative and intellectual process by tracing the genesis of his work through the use of archival material. Hayes makes a timely, insightful, and compelling contribution to existing criticism on Roth, but he also adds to theoretical discourses about aesthetic and ethical dimensions in literature, such that not only scholars interested in Roth but also others will find this book useful. * Melissa Schuha, Textual Practice * In his account of Roth's allies and adversaries, Hayes leaves few stones unturned. The study incorporates a staggering scope and mixture of influences ... The close readings are generous, perceptive, and strong ... a rich and interrogative study that will surely make an impact both within and outside of Roth scholarship. * Ola Joensson, Studia Neophilologica * Hayes makes a persuasive case ... a highly successful book. Hayes's argument is grounded in compelling and perceptive close readings of Roth's work ... Philip Roth: Fiction and Power remains one of the most exciting works on Roth to appear in recent years, suggesting fruitful directions for how we might read a career as lengthy and complicated as Roth's. More broadly, the book illustrates how Roth's long engagement with the function of literature remains particularly valuable as we continue to speculate on how and why we read fiction. * Matthew Shipe, Review of English Studies *

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0199689121
• ISBN 13: 9780199689125
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 276