Philip Roth: American Pastoral, The Human Stain, The Plot Against America

About the Author

Debra Shostak is Mildred Foss Thompson Professor of English Language and Literature at The College of Wooster, USA. She is author of Philip Roth-Counterlives, Countertexts (2004) and editor of Philip Roth: American Pastoral, The Human Stain, The Plot Against America (Bloomsbury, 2011).

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Review

"Debra Shostak's sophisticated, intellectually daring, and graceful new collection of essays on Philip Roth's later work reveals Roth's fiction in a complex and rewarding new light. Positioning Roth not simply as a contemporary American realist, but as a writer deeply aware of his place in intellectual history—one that spans nations and time—the essays in this collection reveal Roth as nothing if not deeply devoted to the epistemological crises at the heart of the 20th and 21st centuries. Each of the nuanced essays collected here thoughtfully reconsiders Roth's notoriously complex writing to emphasize his vexed representations of the status of identity, of fiction, of culture, and of human otherness during our contemporary social milieu. According to the astute scholars who contributed to this volume, Roth lays bare in his fiction since the 1990s the way ordinary people may be blindsided by the contradictions of the modern American age — the contradiction, for example, between the democratic promise, on the one hand, and institutional practices on the other hand. Collectively, these essays raise important questions about Roth's representations of American ideologies, the meaning of history, and the status of the written word, as well as the effects of these representations on the culture at large. It will inevitably change the way scholars perceive Roth's oeuvre — as well as his place in the contemporary American canon." (Aimee Pozorski, President, The Philip Roth Society, Central Connecticut State University, USA)

'Philip Roth's historical works—American Pastoral, The Human Stain, and The Plot Against America—stand as perhaps the most notable in his oeuvre. In this collection, Debra Shostak shows us the significance of these novels by bringing together an insightful collection of original essays. No other study on these late-period works comes close to capturing what is sure to be seen as Roth's high point as an author. Here is where readers need to begin.' (Derek Parker Royal, Executive Editor, Philip Roth Studies)

"Debra Shostak’s sophisticated, intellectually daring, and graceful new collection of essays on Philip Roth’s later work reveals Roth’s fiction in a complex and rewarding new light. Positioning Roth not simply as a contemporary American realist, but as a writer deeply aware of his place in intellectual history—one that spans nations and time—the essays in this collection reveal Roth as nothing if not deeply devoted to the epistemological crises at the heart of the 20th and 21st centuries. Each of the nuanced essays collected here thoughtfully reconsiders Roth’s notoriously complex writing to emphasize his vexed representations of the status of identity, of fiction, of culture, and of human otherness during our contemporary social milieu. According to the astute scholars who contributed to this volume, Roth lays bare in his fiction since the 1990s the way ordinary people may be blindsided by the contradictions of the modern American age – the contradiction, for example, between the democratic promise, on the one hand, and institutional practices on the other hand. Collectively, these essays raise important questions about Roth’s representations of American ideologies, the meaning of history, and the status of the written word, as well as the effects of these representations on the culture at large. It will inevitably change the way scholars perceive Roth’s oeuvre — as well as his place in the contemporary American canon." (Sanford Lakoff)

'Philip Roth’s historical works—American Pastoral, The Human Stain, and The Plot Against America—stand as perhaps the most notable in his oeuvre. I