Olivier Vojetta's Blog: BUS RIDING BOOKS - Posts Tagged "the-facts"

—BUS RIDING BOOKS—
"The Facts, a novelist autobiography", by Philip Roth
Here is my review of the book…

In his autobiography, Philip Roth is looking at the wounds that plagued him for decades, yet were kept at a distance. The same troubles that led him to a grave depression after he decided to open himself up by writing these pages. For him, like for so many other writers before him, this self-investigation is like a second chance. That's the beauty of being a writer I suppose: Roth can fictionalise a "kind" of himself... and rewrite his eventful past one way or another, as and when he chooses to.

And what a journey he had! From his Jewish upbringing in 1950s America to being a professor at the University of Chicago and getting his PhD there, who would have imagined he would one day become one of the most famous American writers of our times?

For a little while, the classroom was his stage and he thought this was going to be his life. But Philipp Roth really wanted to be a writer, right from the start, unlike some other authors I'm familiar with, like former lawyer Marc Levy who wrote his first book at the age of 37 - a story for his daughter - and found huge success straight away, to his biggest surprise. Only then did he decide to stop law and focus on his writing. No, Roth was already involved with the "Et cetera" magazine in high school and writing on the side. For Roth, life had always been about writing, nothing else was on his mind and I find this both courageous and admirable. A trajectory I would have liked to pursue had there been no other, more pressing imperatives such as getting a job, repaying my student loan, buying a flat, getting married, becoming a dad and so on and so on. Instead, and despite having a few books out there, I am still at the fringe of literary life but I continue to write, always.

Of course, having the vocation is not enough. It took Roth a lot of hard work and isolation from real life and people to be able to write those books that became instant blockbusters. And tons of talent.

All in all, this book is fascinating but also very sad in more ways than one. Roth' journey is not one for the faint hearted, dotted with marriages, break ups, divorces, abortions, years of legal battles, property disputes, and disputes over whose books is who's...