The Life and Literature of Philip Roth

“If you’re from New Jersey, Nathan had said,
and you write 30 books, and you win the Nobel Prize,
and you live to be white-haired and 95,
it’s highly unlikely, but not impossible that after your death
they’ll decide to name a rest stop for you
on the Jersey Turnpike.”     -Philip Roth, The Counterlife

Philip Roth is one of the most awarded and controversial writers of his generation. Roth’s fiction, regularly set in his birthplace of Newark, NJ, is known for its intensely autobiographical characters and for its provocative exploration of Jewish American identity. Join us this Yom Shabbat as we explore the universal themes that Roth’s characters have grappled with throughout his writing career from 1957-2007 and hear his words come to life with staged readings during the evening.

Featured speakers for this Yom Shabbat program will be Brandeis professors William Flesch and Sylvia Fishman in a discussion moderated by Brandeis professor and Temple Isaiah congregant Stephen Whitfield.

William “Billy” Flesch has been a Professor of English at Brandeis University since 1985 where his classes in Comparative Literature, Medieval and Renaissance Studies, and Hollywood Cinema are consistently oversubscribed.

Sylvia Fishman is the Joseph and Esther Foster Professor in Judaic Studies at Brandeis University where her courses include Sociology of the American Jewish Community, American Jewish Writers, and Jewish Life in Film and Fiction.

Refreshments will be served after the program.