143-436: Philip Milton Roth (March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short-story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey —is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophically and formally blurring the distinction between reality and fiction, for its "sensual, ingenious style" and for its provocative explorations of American identity . He first gained attention with
286-471: A Bachelor of Science (BS) has a greater focus on science, math, and engineering. The Bachelor of Arts degree is a type of baccalaureate degree . A Bachelor of Arts degree is usually completed in four years: that is, it requires four years of full-time coursework during term time. However, just as with other degrees, some may require a longer time period. This is due to factors such as the student's ability, motivation, and access to financial assistance to earn
429-513: A Hochschule , which is the generic term in Germany for all institutions awarding academic degrees. Fachhochschule is often translated as "University of Applied Sciences". Universitäten place greater emphasis on fundamental science and background in theory, while Fachhochschulen are generally designed with a focus on teaching professional skills. Degrees earned at Universitäten and Fachhochschulen are legally equivalent. In Germany,
572-456: A BA or BSc degree. However, some older or ancient universities , such as Oxford , Cambridge , and Trinity College Dublin traditionally award BAs to undergraduates having completed the final examinations, e.g., Part II Tripos (Cambridge), Final Honour Schools (Oxford), Moderator-ship (Dublin), in most subjects including the sciences. Some new plate glass universities established in the 1960s, such as York and Lancaster , originally followed
715-571: A PhD in literature, but dropped out after one term. Roth was a longtime faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania , where he taught comparative literature until retiring from teaching in 1991. Roth's work first appeared in print in the Chicago Review while he was studying, and later teaching, at the University of Chicago . His first book, Goodbye, Columbus , contains the novella Goodbye, Columbus and four short stories. It won
858-698: A Pulitzer Prize for his 1997 novel American Pastoral . In 2001, The Human Stain was awarded the United Kingdom's WH Smith Literary Award for the best book of the year, as well as France's Prix Médicis Étranger . Also in 2001, the MacDowell Colony awarded Roth the 42nd Edward MacDowell Medal . In 2002, Roth was awarded the National Book Foundation Medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters. In 2003, literary critic Harold Bloom named Roth one of
1001-513: A compromise bill that would have extended the status for two years. In May 2018, Governor Phil Murphy signed a law that reinstated the program in these five cities and extended the expiration date in other zones. Newark is one of nine cities in New Jersey designated as eligible for Urban Transit Hub Tax Credits by the state's Economic Development Authority . Developers who invest a minimum of $ 50 million within 0.5 miles (0.8 km) of
1144-478: A decline of nearly 40% as residents moved to surrounding suburbs. White flight from Newark to the suburbs started in the 1940s and accelerated in the 1960s, due in part to the construction of the Interstate Highway System . The 1967 riots resulted in a significant population loss of the city's middle class, many of them Jewish , which continued from the 1970s through to the 1990s. On net,
1287-533: A developer of an aeroponic technology for farming moved its headquarters from Finger Lakes to Newark. By 2016, it had built the world's largest vertical farm in a Newark warehouse. The company was recognized in 2019 by Fast Company as one of the world's most innovative companies in data science . Broadridge Financial Solutions , a public FinTech company, announced a relocation of 1,000 jobs to Newark in 2017. In 2021, WebMD , an online publisher, announced that it will relocate and create up to 700 new jobs in
1430-484: A disgraced former puppeteer. It won his second National Book Award . In complete contrast, American Pastoral (1997), the first volume of his so-called American Trilogy, focuses on the life of virtuous Newark star athlete Swede Levov, and the tragedy that befalls him when his teenage daughter becomes a domestic terrorist during the late 1960s. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction . The Dying Animal (2001)
1573-615: A future here." In an October 2012 interview with the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles , Roth announced that he would be retiring from writing and confirmed subsequently in Le Monde that he would no longer publish fiction. In a May 2014 interview with Alan Yentob for the BBC , Roth said, "this is my last appearance on television, my absolutely last appearance on any stage anywhere." Reflecting on his writing career, in an afterword written on
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#17327806379571716-400: A household in 2000 was $ 26,913, and the median income for a family was $ 30,781. Males had a median income of $ 29,748 versus $ 25,734 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 13,009. 28.4% of the population and 25.5% of families were below the poverty line. 36.6% of those under the age of 18 and 24.1% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line. The city's unemployment rate
1859-428: A major courthouse venue including federal, state, and county facilities, it is home to more than 1,000 law firms. The city also has a significant number of college students, with nearly 50,000 attending the city's universities and medical and law schools. Its airport, maritime port, rail facilities, and highway network make Newark the busiest transshipment hub on the U.S. East Coast in terms of volume. Though Newark
2002-729: A master's degree. Along with the Bachelor of Science (B.S.), the Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) is the most commonly granted degree in the US. A B.A. degree is earned after the completion of four years of undergraduate college level study. The Bachelor of Science is abbreviated with periods i.e., B.S., and the Bachelor of Arts is abbreviated as B.A. Most US colleges and universities offer undergraduate programs. In colleges and universities in Australia, Nepal, New Zealand, India and South Africa,
2145-471: A masterpiece, magnificent. Fifty-one years later he's 78 years old and he writes Nemesis and it is so wonderful, such a terrific novel ... Tell me one other writer who 50 years apart writes masterpieces ... If you look at the trajectory of the average novel writer, there is a learning period, then a period of high achievement, then the talent runs out and in middle age they start slowly to decline. People say why aren't Martin [Amis] and Julian [Barnes] getting on
2288-792: A meditation on illness, aging, desire, and death, was published in May 2006. It was Roth's third book to win the PEN/Faulkner Award , making him the only person so honored. Exit Ghost , which again features Nathan Zuckerman, was released in October 2007. It was the last Zuckerman novel. Indignation , Roth's 29th book, was published on September 16, 2008. Set in 1951, during the Korean War , it follows Marcus Messner's departure from Newark to Ohio's Winesburg College, where he begins his sophomore year. In 2009, Roth's 30th book, The Humbling ,
2431-517: A more recent designation for the area that was the subject of the 1968 novel Howard Street by Nathan Heard , is still in common usage. The Central Ward extends at one point as far north as 2nd Avenue. In the 19th century, the Central Ward was inhabited by Germans and other white Catholic and Protestant groups. The German inhabitants were later replaced by Jews , who were then replaced by African Americans. The increased academic footprint in
2574-441: A novel requires a certain amount of concentration, focus, devotion to the reading. If you read a novel in more than two weeks you don't read the novel really. So I think that kind of concentration and focus and attentiveness is hard to come by—it's hard to find huge numbers of people, large numbers of people, significant numbers of people, who have those qualities[.] When asked about the prospects for printed versus digital books, Roth
2717-452: A paperback, ebook, and audiobook versions of the biography. Roth had asked his executors "to destroy many of his personal papers after the publication of the semi-authorized biography on which Blake Bailey had recently begun work.... Roth wanted to ensure that Bailey, who was producing exactly the type of biography he wanted, would be the only person outside a small circle of intimates permitted to access personal, sensitive manuscripts, including
2860-432: A pre-nuptial agreement that would give her very little in the event of a divorce—which he duly demanded two years later." He also stipulated that Bloom's daughter Anna Steiger —from her marriage to Rod Steiger —not live with them. They divorced in 1994, and Bloom published a 1996 memoir, Leaving a Doll's House , that depicted Roth as a misogynist and control freak. Some critics have detected parallels between Bloom and
3003-573: A reduced 3.3125% sales tax rate (half of the 6 + 5 ⁄ 8 % rate charged statewide) at eligible merchants. Established in January 1986, the city's Urban Enterprise Zone status expires in December 2023. The UEZ program in Newark and four other original UEZ cities had been allowed to lapse as of January 1, 2017, after Governor Chris Christie , who called the program an "abject failure", vetoed
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#17327806379573146-519: A speech on his 80th birthday, Roth emphasized the importance of realistic detail in American literature: the passion for specificity, the hypnotic materiality of the world one is in, is all but at the heart of the task to which every American novelist has been enjoined since Herman Melville and his whale and Mark Twain and his river: to discover the most arresting, evocative verbal depiction of every last American thing. Without strong representation of
3289-407: A strategic location for data transfer between Manhattan and the rest of the country during the dot-com boom . At the same time, the city encouraged those companies to install more than they needed. A vacant department store was converted into a telecommunication center called 165 Halsey Street . It became one of the world's largest carrier hotels . As a result, after the dot-com bust, there were
3432-533: A substantial portion of the middle class. Sunni , Shia and Ahmadiyya Muslims are the largest Islamic denominational demographic, though some Muslims in the area may be Quranists . Most Sunni mosques are members of the Islamic Society of North America . The Nation of Islam had a former mosque in Newark presided by Louis Farrakhan . A little over 1.2% practiced an eastern religion including Sikhism , Hinduism , and Buddhism . The remainder of Newark
3575-450: A surplus of dark fiber (unused fiber optic cables). Twenty years later, the city and other private companies began utilizing the dark fiber to create high performance networks within the city. Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A. , BA , A.B. or AB ; from the Latin baccalaureus artium , baccalaureus in artibus , or artium baccalaureus ) is
3718-400: A third class honours degree (for example, BA with distinction, merit or pass). A Bachelor of Arts is entitled to the post-nominal letters BA for an ordinary or pass degree and BA (Hons) for an honours degree. (However, graduates entitled to use the "Hons" post-nominal very rarely do so in practice.) The academic dress worn by honours and non-honours graduates is identical. An honours degree
3861-408: A train station are eligible for pro-rated tax credit . The technology industry in Newark has grown significantly after Audible , an online audiobook and podcast company, moved its headquarters to Newark in 2007. The company was later acquired by Amazon . Panasonic moved its North America headquarters to the city in 2013. Other technology-focus companies followed suit. In 2015, AeroFarms ,
4004-580: A way to the act of writing as a means of really reshaping the world to your liking. But he's been very good to have around as far as goading me to become a better writer." Roth spoke at Updike's memorial service, saying, "He is and always will be no less a national treasure than his 19th-century precursor, Nathaniel Hawthorne ." After Updike's memorial at the New York Public Library , Roth told Charles McGrath , "I dream about John sometimes. He's standing behind me, watching me write." Asked who
4147-427: A whole remains ethnically diverse. The West Ward comprises the neighborhoods of Vailsburg , Ivy Hill , West Side , Fairmount and Lower Roseville . It is home to the historic Fairmount Cemetery . The West Ward, once a predominantly Irish-American, Polish, and Ukrainian neighborhood, is now home to neighborhoods composed primarily of Latinos, African Americans, and Caribbean Americans . Relative to other parts of
4290-449: Is 31.5 inches (80 cm), though variations in weather patterns may bring sparse snowfall in some years and several major nor'easters in others, with the heaviest 24-hour fall of 25.9 inches (66 cm) occurring on December 26, 1947. Spring and autumn in the area are generally unstable yet mild. The July daily mean is 78.2 °F (25.7 °C), and highs exceed 90 °F (32 °C) on an average 28.3 days per year, not factoring in
4433-802: Is a destination for shopping, dining, and nightlife. A historically immigrant-dominated section of the city, the Ironbound in recent decades has been termed "Little Portugal" and "Little Brazil" due to its heavily Portuguese and Brazilian population, Newark being home to one of the largest Portuguese speaking communities in the United States. In addition, the East Ward has become home to various Latin Americans , especially Ecuadorians, Peruvians, and Colombians, alongside Puerto Ricans, African Americans, and commuters to Manhattan . Public education in
Philip Roth - Misplaced Pages Continue
4576-509: Is a short novel about eros and death that revisits literary professor David Kepesh, protagonist of two 1970s works, The Breast and The Professor of Desire (1977). In The Plot Against America (2004), Roth imagines an alternative American history in which Charles Lindbergh , aviator hero and isolationist, is elected U.S. President in 1940, and the U.S. negotiates an understanding with Hitler's Nazi Germany and embarks on its own program of anti-Semitism . Roth's novel Everyman ,
4719-431: Is always awarded in one of four classes, depending upon the marks gained in the final assessments and examinations. The top students are awarded a first-class degree, followed by an upper second-class degree (usually referred to as a 2:1), a lower second-class degree (usually referred to as a 2:2), and those who pass with the lowest marks gain a third-class degree. An ordinary, pass or unclassified degree (which does not give
4862-498: Is divided into five political wards , which are often used by residents to identify their place of habitation. In recent years, residents have begun to identify with specific neighborhood names instead of the larger ward appellations. Nevertheless, the wards remain relatively distinct. Industrial uses, coupled with the airport and seaport lands, are concentrated in the East and South wards, while residential neighborhoods exist primarily in
5005-836: Is dominated by the Church of God in Christ and Assemblies of God USA . 0.9% of Christians in the city and nearby suburbs identify as Anglican or Episcopalian . Most are served by the Newark Diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States . The remainder identified with Continuing Anglican or Evangelical Episcopal bodies including the Reformed Episcopal Church and Anglican Church in North America . ACNA and REC-affiliated churches form
5148-909: Is headquartered in the city. Its episcopal seat is the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart . Eastern Catholics in the area are served by the Syriac Catholic Eparchy of Our Lady of Deliverance of Newark , an eparchy of the Syriac Catholic Church , and by the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . Baptist churches in Newark are affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA , Progressive National Baptist Convention ,
5291-516: Is in the South Ward, as are seventeen public schools, five daycare centers, three branch libraries, one police precinct, a mini-precinct, and three fire houses. The East Ward consists of much of Newark's Downtown commercial district, as well as the Ironbound neighborhood, where much of Newark's industry was in the 19th century. Today, the Ironbound (also known as "Down Neck" and "The Neck")
5434-475: Is not the industrial colossus of the past, the city does have a considerable amount of industry and light manufacturing. The southern portion of the Ironbound , also known as the Industrial Meadowlands, has seen many factories built since World War II , including a large Anheuser-Busch brewery that opened in 1951 and distributed 7.5 million barrels of beer in 2007. Grain comes into
5577-458: Is revealed, explores identity politics in the late 1990s. In much of Roth's fiction, the 1940s, comprising Roth's and Zuckerman's childhood, mark a high point of American idealism and social cohesion. A more satirical treatment of the patriotism and idealism of the war years is evident in Roth's comic novels, such as Portnoy's Complaint and Sabbath's Theater . In The Plot Against America ,
5720-688: The Guardian newspaper in 2005. "I'm an American." Roth was a baseball fan, and credited the game with shaping his literary sensibility. In an essay published in The New York Times on Opening Day , 1973, Roth wrote that "baseball, with its lore and legends, its cultural power, its seasonal associations, its native authenticity, its simple rules and transparent strategy, its longueurs and thrills, its spaciousness, its suspensefulness, its heroics, its nuances, its lingo, its 'characters,' its peculiarly hypnotic tedium, its mythic transformation of
5863-667: The American Community Survey 's 2018 estimates, non-Hispanic whites made up 8.9% of the population. Black or African Americans were 47.0% of the population, Asian Americans were 2.1%, some other race 1.6%, and multiracial Americans 1.1%. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 39.2% of the city's population in 2018. In 2010, 35.74% of the population was white, 58.86% African American, 3.99% Native American or Alaska Native, 2.19% Asian, .01% Pacific Islander, 10.4% from other races, and 10.95% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race made up 33.39% of
Philip Roth - Misplaced Pages Continue
6006-676: The Bard College Cemetery in Annandale-on-Hudson , New York, where in 1999 he taught a class. He had originally planned to be buried next to his parents at the Gomel Chesed Cemetery in Newark, but changed his mind about 15 years before his death, in order to be buried close to where his friend Norman Manea is writer in residence, and near other Jews "to whom he could talk". Roth expressly banned any religious rituals from his funeral service, though it
6149-827: The Diocese of the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic . 0.6% of Christians are members of the Latter Day Saint movement , followed by Lutherans (0.2%). 3.0% of the city's Christian populace were of other Christian denominations including the Eastern and Oriental Orthodox churches, Independent sacramental churches , the Jehovah's Witnesses , non-denominational Protestants , and the United Church of Christ . The largest Eastern Orthodox jurisdictions in Newark include
6292-485: The Dominican Republic . There is a significant Portuguese-speaking community concentrated in the Ironbound district. 2000 census data showed that Newark had 15,801 residents of Portuguese ancestry (5.8% of the population), while an additional 5,805 (2.1% of the total) were of Brazilian ancestry. In advance of the 2000 census , city officials made a push to encourage residents to respond and participate in
6435-608: The Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America ( Ecumenical Patriarchate ) and the Diocese of New York and New Jersey ( Orthodox Church in America ). The largest Oriental Orthodox bodies include the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria and Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church . Judaism and Islam were tied as the second-largest religious community (3.0%). Up to 1967, Jewish Americans formed
6578-682: The National Baptist Convention of America , and National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc . Following, 2.4% identified with Methodism and the United Methodist Church and African Methodist Episcopal and AME Zion churches. 1.6% of Christian Newarkers are Presbyterian and 1.3% identified as Pentecostal . The Presbyterian community is dominated by the Presbyterian Church (USA) and Presbyterian Church in America . The Pentecostal community
6721-607: The National Book Award in 1960. He published his first full-length novel, Letting Go , in 1962. In 1967 he published When She Was Good , set in the WASP Midwest in the 1940s. It is based in part on the life of Margaret Martinson Williams, whom Roth married in 1959. The publication in 1969 of his fourth and most controversial novel, Portnoy's Complaint , gave Roth widespread commercial and critical success, causing his profile to rise significantly. During
6864-604: The National Book Critics Circle award for The Counterlife , the PEN/Faulkner Award for Operation Shylock , The Human Stain , and Everyman , a second National Book Award for Sabbath's Theater , and the Pulitzer Prize for American Pastoral . In 2001, Roth received the inaugural Franz Kafka Prize in Prague . In 2005, the Library of America began publishing his complete works, making him
7007-691: The New Jersey Performing Arts Center , Newark Symphony Hall , the Prudential Center , The Newark Museum of Art , and the New Jersey Historical Society . Branch Brook Park is the oldest county park in the United States and is home to the nation's largest collection of cherry blossom trees, numbering over 5,000. Newark is divided into five political wards (East, West, South, North and Central). The majority of Black residents reside in
7150-566: The New York metropolitan area . As of the 2020 census , the city's population was 311,549. The Population Estimates Program calculated a population of 304,960 for 2023, making it the 66th-most populous municipality in the nation. Settled in 1666 by Puritans from New Haven Colony , Newark is one of the oldest cities in the United States. Its location at the mouth of the Passaic River , where it flows into Newark Bay , has made
7293-480: The United States Census Bureau , the city had a total area of 25.89 square miles (67.1 km ), including 24.14 square miles (62.5 km ) of land and 1.74 square miles (4.5 km ) of water (6.72%). It has the third-smallest land area among the 100 most populous cities in the U.S., behind neighboring Jersey City and Hialeah, Florida . The city's altitude ranges from 0 (sea level) in
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#17327806379577436-666: The Weequahic neighborhood. He was the second child of Bess (née Finkel) and Herman Roth, an insurance broker. Roth's family was Jewish , and his parents were second-generation Americans. His paternal grandparents came from Kozlov near Lviv (then Lemberg) in Austrian Galicia , and his mother's ancestors were from the region of Kyiv in Ukraine. He graduated from Newark's Weequahic High School in or around 1950. In 1969, Arnold H. Lubasch wrote in The New York Times that
7579-461: The alternate history of the war years dramatizes the prevalence of anti-Semitism and racism in America at the time, despite the promotion of increasingly influential anti-racist ideals during the war. In his fiction Roth portrayed the 1940s, and the New Deal era of the 1930s that preceded it, as a heroic phase in American history. A sense of frustration with social and political developments in
7722-478: The city's neighborhoods . Poverty remains a consistent problem in Newark. As of 2010, roughly one-third of the city's population was impoverished. Portions of Newark are part of an Urban Enterprise Zone . The city was selected in 1983 as one of the initial group of 10 zones chosen to participate in the program. In addition to other benefits to encourage employment within the Zone, shoppers can take advantage of
7865-596: The "Gateway City". The city borders the municipalities of Belleville , Bloomfield , East Orange , Irvington , Maplewood and South Orange in Essex County; Bayonne , East Newark , Harrison , Jersey City and Kearny in Hudson County ; and Elizabeth and Hillside in Union County . Newark is the second-most racially diverse municipality in the state, behind neighboring Jersey City . It
8008-456: The 1959 short story collection Goodbye, Columbus , which won the U.S. National Book Award for Fiction . Ten years later, he published the bestseller Portnoy's Complaint . Nathan Zuckerman , Roth's literary alter ego, narrates several of his books. A fictionalized Philip Roth narrates some of his others, such as the alternate history The Plot Against America . Roth was one of the most honored American writers of his generation. He received
8151-535: The 1970s Roth experimented in various modes, from the political satire Our Gang (1971) to the Kafkaesque The Breast (1972). By the end of the decade Roth had created his alter ego Nathan Zuckerman. In a series of highly self-referential novels and novellas that followed between 1979 and 1986, Zuckerman appeared as either the main character or an interlocutor. Sabbath's Theater (1995) may have Roth's most lecherous protagonist, Mickey Sabbath,
8294-402: The 1990s on, Roth's fiction often combined autobiographical elements with retrospective dramatizations of postwar American life. Roth described American Pastoral and the two following novels as a loosely connected "American trilogy". Each of these novels treats aspects of the postwar era against the backdrop of the nostalgically remembered Jewish American childhood of Nathan Zuckerman, in which
8437-454: The 19th century and early 20th century, and experienced racial tension and urban decline in the second half of the 20th century, culminating in the 1967 Newark riots , which led to an increase in white flight , with 100,000 white residents leaving the city in the 1960s, though the exodus of white residents from the city had started after World War II as housing availability was limited in the city, while white residents were able to buy homes in
8580-649: The 2010 National Humanities Medal in the East Room of the White House on March 2, 2011. In May 2011, Roth was awarded the Man Booker International Prize for lifetime achievement in fiction on the world stage, the fourth winner of the biennial prize. One of the judges, Carmen Callil , a publisher of the feminist Virago house, withdrew in protest, referring to Roth's work as " Emperor's clothes ". She said "he goes on and on and on about
8723-511: The 25th anniversary of the publication of Portnoy's Complaint , Roth wrote, "I wished to dazzle in my very own way and to dazzle myself no less than anyone else." To inspire himself to write, he recalled thinking, "All you have to do is sit down and work!" Much of Roth's fiction revolves around semi-autobiographical themes, while self-consciously and playfully addressing the perils of establishing connections between Roth and his fictional lives and voices. Examples of this close relationship between
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#17327806379578866-523: The American Trilogy ( American Pastoral , I Married a Communist , and The Human Stain ). Another admirer of Roth's work is Bruce Springsteen . Roth read Springsteen's autobiography, Born to Run , and Springsteen praised Roth's American Trilogy: "I'll tell you, those three recent books by Philip Roth just knocked me on my ass.... To be in his sixties making work that is so strong, so full of revelations about love and emotional pain, that's
9009-557: The BA course normally lasts between three and three and a half years—six or seven semesters—and the degree is awarded after the student earns between 180 and 210 ECTS . In the Netherlands, the BA and Master of Arts (MA) degrees were introduced in 2002. Until then, a single program led to the doctorandus degree (abbreviated drs.), which comprised the same course load as the bachelor's and master's programs combined. The title doctorandus
9152-399: The BA degree can be taken over three years of full-time study. Students must pursue at least one major area of study and units from that subject are usually studied in each year, though sometimes students may choose to complete upper-level classes in the same year and as a result, can leave space for elective subjects from a different field. At some universities, students may choose to pursue
9295-530: The BA degree has been consistent in its history. The Bachelor of Arts degree was formed out of the study of liberal arts . Liberal art is a term that was applied to the study of many branches of learning such as grammar , logic , rhetoric , arithmetic , geometry , astronomy , and music . The study of liberal arts started during the Middle Ages . During the Renaissance , the term liberal art
9438-544: The Booker prize shortlist, but that's what happens in middle age. Philip Roth, though, gets better and better in middle age. In the 1990s he was almost incapable of not writing a masterpiece— The Human Stain , The Plot Against America , I Married a Communist . He was 65–70 years old, what the hell's he doing writing that well? In 2012 Roth received the Prince of Asturias Award for literature. On March 19, 2013, his 80th birthday
9581-644: The East Ward consists of East Side High School and six elementary schools. The ward is densely packed, with well-maintained housing and streets, primarily large apartment buildings and rowhouses . Newark lies in the transition between a humid subtropical and humid continental climate ( Köppen Cfa/Dfa ), with cold winters and hot humid summers. The January daily mean is 32.8 °F (0.4 °C), and although temperatures below 10 °F (−12 °C) are to be expected in most years, sub-0 °F (−18 °C) readings are rare; conversely, some days may warm up to 50 °F (10 °C). The average seasonal snowfall
9724-637: The East and Central wards. The boundaries of the wards are altered for various political and demographic reasons and sometimes gerrymandered . Newark's Central Ward, formerly known as the old Third Ward, contains much of the city's history including the original squares Lincoln Park , Military Park and Harriet Tubman Square . The ward contains the University Heights , The Coast , historic Grace Episcopal Church , Government Center , Springfield/Belmont and Seventh Avenue neighborhoods. Of these neighborhood designations only University Heights,
9867-460: The Forest Hill neighborhood. The North Ward has lost geographic area in recent times; its southern boundary is now significantly further north than the traditional boundary near Interstate 280 . The North Ward had its own Little Italy, centered on heavily Italian Seventh Avenue and the area of St. Lucy's Church ; demographics have transitioned to Latino in recent decades, though the ward as
10010-400: The NJ Turnpike. Newark had a population of 311,549 in 2020. The Population Estimates Program calculated a population of 305,344 for 2022, making Newark the 66th-most populous municipality in the nation. The city was ranked 67th in population in 2010 and 63rd in 2000. From 2000 to 2010, the increase of 3,594 inhabitants (+1.3%) from the 273,546 counted in the 2000 U.S. census marked
10153-515: The North, Central, and West Wards. State law requires that wards be compact and contiguous and that the largest ward may not exceed the population of the smallest by more than 10% of the average ward size. Ward boundaries are redrawn, as needed, by a board of ward commissioners consisting of two Democrats and two Republicans appointed at the county level and the municipal clerk. Redrawing of ward lines in previous decades have shifted traditional boundaries, so that downtown currently occupies portions of
10296-473: The Philip Roth Society published an open letter imploring Roth's executors 'to preserve these documents and make them readily available to researchers.'" Newark, New Jersey Newark ( / ˈ nj uː ər k / NEW -ərk , locally: [nʊɹk] ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey , the county seat of Essex County , and a principal city of
10439-610: The South, Central, and West Wards of the city, while the North and East Wards are mostly populated by Latinos. Ras Baraka has served as mayor of Newark since 2014. Newark was settled in 1666 by Connecticut Puritans led by Robert Treat from the New Haven Colony . It was conceived as a theocratic assembly of the faithful, though this did not last for long as new settlers came with different ideas. On October 31, 1693, it
10582-473: The United States since the 1940s is palpable in the American trilogy and Exit Ghost , but had already been present in Roth's earlier works that contained political and social satire, such as Our Gang and The Great American Novel . Writing about the latter, Hermione Lee points to the sense of disillusionment with "the American Dream" in Roth's fiction: "The mythic words on which Roth's generation
10725-470: The University Heights neighborhood has produced gentrification , with landmark buildings undergoing renovation. Located in the Central Ward is the nation's largest health sciences university, UMDNJ-New Jersey Medical School . It is also home to three other universities – New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Rutgers University – Newark , and Essex County College . The Central Ward forms
10868-677: The author's life and his characters' include narrators and protagonists such as David Kepesh and Nathan Zuckerman as well as the character "Philip Roth", who appears in The Plot Against America and of whom there are two in Operation Shylock . Critic Jacques Berlinerblau noted in The Chronicle of Higher Education that these fictional voices create a complex and tricky experience for readers, deceiving them into believing they "know" Roth. In Roth's fiction
11011-511: The award's only three-time winner. In April 2007, he received the first PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction . The May 21, 2006, issue of The New York Times Book Review announced the results of a letter that was sent to what the publication described as "a couple of hundred prominent writers, critics, editors and other literary sages, asking them to identify 'the single best work of American fiction published in
11154-605: The burden of Jewish traditions and proscriptions. ... The liberated Jewish consciousness, let loose into the disintegration of the American Dream, finds itself deracinated and homeless. American society and politics, by the late sixties, are a grotesque travesty of what Jewish immigrants had traveled towards: liberty, peace, security, a decent liberal democracy. While Roth's fiction has strong autobiographical influences, it also incorporates social commentary and political satire, most obviously in Our Gang and Operation Shylock . From
11297-411: The character Eve Frame in Roth's I Married a Communist (1998). The novel Operation Shylock (1993) and other works draw on a post-operative breakdown and Roth's experience of the temporary side effects of the sedative Halcion ( triazolam ), prescribed post-operatively in the 1980s. Roth died at a Manhattan hospital of heart failure on May 22, 2018, at the age of 85. Roth was buried at
11440-640: The city include the Newark campus of Rutgers University , which includes law and medical schools and the Rutgers Institute of Jazz Studies ; University Hospital ; the New Jersey Institute of Technology ; and Seton Hall University's law school . Newark is a home to numerous governmental offices, largely concentrated at Government Center and the Essex County Government Complex . Cultural venues include
11583-519: The city is thought to derive from Newark-on-Trent , England, because of the influence of the original pastor, Abraham Pierson , who came from Yorkshire but may have ministered in Newark, Nottinghamshire . But Pierson is also supposed to have said that the community reflecting the new task at hand should be named "New Ark" for "New Ark of the Covenant" and some of the colonists saw it as "New-Work",
11726-655: The city lost about 130,000 residents between 1960 and 1990. At the 2010 census, there were 91,414 households, and 62,239 families in Newark. There were 108,907 housing units at an average density of 4,552.5 per square mile (1,757.7/km ). In 2000, there were 273,546 people, 91,382 households, and 61,956 families residing in the city. The population density was 11,495.0 inhabitants per square mile (4,438.2/km ). There were 100,141 housing units at an average density of 4,208.1 per square mile (1,624.6//km ). The U.S. Census Bureau's 2006–2010 American Community Survey showed that (in 2010 inflation-adjusted dollars) median household income
11869-614: The city's waterfront an integral part of the Port of New York and New Jersey . Port Newark–Elizabeth is the primary container shipping terminal of the busiest seaport on the U.S. East Coast . Newark Liberty International Airport was the first municipal commercial airport in the United States and has become one of the busiest. Several companies are headquartered in Newark, including Prudential , PSEG , Panasonic Corporation of North America , Audible.com , IDT Corporation , Manischewitz , and AeroFarms . Higher education institutions in
12012-510: The city, the West Ward has for many decades struggled with elevated rates of crime, particularly violent crime. The South Ward comprises the Weequahic , Clinton Hill , Dayton , and South Broad Valley neighborhoods. The South Ward, once home to residents of predominantly Jewish descent, now has ethnic neighborhoods made up primarily of African Americans and Hispanics . The city's second-largest hospital, Newark Beth Israel Medical Center ,
12155-563: The city, while Prudential still has its home office in Newark. Many other companies are headquartered in the city, including IDT Corporation , NJ Transit , Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), Manischewitz , Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey , and Edison Properties . After the election of Cory Booker as mayor, millions of dollars of public-private partnership investment were made in Downtown development, but persistent underemployment continue to characterize many of
12298-456: The city. In 2018, Newark was selected as one of 20 finalists for the location of Amazon HQ2 , a new headquarters of Amazon. The advantages of Newark included proximity to New York City , lower land costs, tech labor force and higher education institutions, a major airport, and fiber optic networks. The extensive fiber optic networks in Newark started in the 1990s when telecommunication companies installed fiber optic network to put Newark as
12441-1076: The degree. Just like other baccalaureate degrees, a Bachelor of Arts is historically offered only at public and private universities and colleges. A Bachelor of Arts, just like other bachelor's degrees, is an admission requirement for graduate and professional school. Beginning in the 1990s, junior colleges started to confer their own baccalaureate degrees. In addition to the standard BA degrees, there are career-specific Bachelor of Arts degrees, including Bachelor of Arts in Functional English , Bachelor of Arts in Administration , Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies , and Regents Bachelor of Arts . The Bachelor of Arts degree has been prominent in academics for centuries. It influenced universities to begin focusing on broad topics such as algebra , psychology , biology , art , history , and philosophy . This aspect of
12584-418: The east to approximately 230 feet (70 m) above sea level in the western section of the city for an average elevation of 115 feet (35 m). Newark is essentially a large basin sloping towards the Passaic River , with a few valleys formed by meandering streams. Historically, Newark's high places have been its wealthier neighborhoods. In the 19th century and early 20th century, the wealthy congregated on
12727-549: The enumeration, citing calculations by city officials that as many as 30,000 people were not reflected in estimates by the Census Bureau , which resulted in the loss of government aid and political representation. It is believed that heavily immigrant areas of Newark were significantly undercounted in the 2010 census, especially in the East Ward. Many households refused to participate in the census, with immigrants often reluctant to submit census forms because they believed that
12870-547: The experience of life on the American home front during the Second World War features prominently. American Pastoral looks at the legacy of the 1960s, as Swede Levov's daughter becomes an antiwar terrorist. I Married a Communist (1998), in which radio actor Ira Ringold is revealed as communist sympathizer, is set in the McCarthy era . The Human Stain , in which classics professor Coleman Silk's secret history
13013-511: The facility by rail. The service industry is also growing rapidly, replacing those in the manufacturing industry, which was once Newark's primary economy. In addition, transportation has become a large business in Newark, accounting for more than 17,000 jobs in 2011. Newark is the third-largest insurance center in the United States, behind New York City and Hartford, Connecticut . Prudential Financial , Mutual Benefit Life , Fireman's Insurance , and American Insurance Company all originated in
13156-521: The fictional Portnoy, both graduates of Weequahic class of '50." The 1950 Weequahic Yearbook calls Roth a "boy of real intelligence, combined with wit and common sense". He was known as a comedian during his time at school. Roth attended Rutgers University in Newark for a year, then transferred to Bucknell University in Pennsylvania , where he earned a B.A. magna cum laude in English and
13299-594: The final secondary school exams in France and Spain (and of the International Baccalaureate ) come from this: le Baccalauréat and el Bachillerato , respectively. The ancient universities of Scotland award a Master of Arts degree to humanities or arts graduates, but a BSc to science graduates. This course takes four years for an honours degree and three for an ordinary. In Scotland, one can opt to take an ordinary degree, which ranks below
13442-547: The four major American novelists still at work, along with Cormac McCarthy , Thomas Pynchon , and Don DeLillo . The Plot Against America (2004) won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History in 2005 and the Society of American Historians' James Fenimore Cooper Prize . Roth was also awarded the United Kingdom's WH Smith Literary Award for the best book of the year, an award he received twice. In October 2005, Roth
13585-404: The future of literature and its place in society, stating his belief that within 25 years the reading of novels will be regarded as a "cultic" activity: I was being optimistic about 25 years really. I think it's going to be cultic. I think always people will be reading them but it will be a small group of people. Maybe more people than now read Latin poetry, but somewhere in that range. ... To read
13728-458: The graduate the right to add '(Hons)') may be awarded if a student has completed (i) followed a non-honours program, or (b) attempted an honours course but marginally failed to achieve third-class standard. Education in Canada is controlled by the provinces and can be very different depending on the province. While all Canadian universities offer four-year degrees, it is not uncommon, depending on
13871-489: The great inventors of narrative detail and masters of narrative voice and perspective, like James and Conrad and Dostoyevsky and Bellow ." Baseball features in several of Roth's novels; the hero of Portnoy's Complaint dreams of playing like Duke Snider , and Nicholas Dawidoff called The Great American Novel "one of the most eccentric baseball novels ever written". American Pastoral alludes to John R. Tunis 's baseball novel The Kid from Tomkinsville . In
14014-551: The growth of the port lands. Newark is surrounded by residential suburbs to the west (on the slope of the Watchung Mountains ), the Passaic River and Newark Bay to the east, dense urban areas to the south and southwest, and middle-class residential suburbs and industrial areas to the north. The city is the largest in New Jersey's Gateway Region , which is said to have received its name from Newark's nickname as
14157-399: The holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts , or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years, depending on the country and institution. The Bachelor of Arts (BA) degree is an undergraduate postsecondary degree that puts a focus on liberal arts and studies. In comparison,
14300-406: The immediate, was the literature of my boyhood... Of course, as time passed neither the flavor and suggestiveness of Red Barber 's narration, nor specific details, vivid and revealing even as Rex Barney 's pre-game hot dog, could continue to satisfy a developing literary appetite; there is no doubt, however, that they helped sustain me until I was old enough and literate enough to begin to respond to
14443-719: The information could be used to justify their deportation. At one time, there was an Italian American community in the Seventh Avenue neighborhood. Roughly 60% of Newarkers identified with a religion as of 2020. The largest Christian group in Newark is the Catholic Church (34.3%), followed by Baptists (5.2%). The city's Catholic population are divided into Latin and Eastern Catholics . The Latin Church-based Archdiocese of Newark , serving Bergen , Essex , Hudson and Union counties,
14586-414: The last 25 years'". American Pastoral tied for fifth, and The Counterlife , Operation Shylock , Sabbath's Theater , The Human Stain and The Plot Against America received multiple votes. In the accompanying essay, A. O. Scott wrote: "Over the past 15 years, Roth's output has been so steady, so various and (mostly) so excellent that his vote has been, inevitably, split. If we had asked for
14729-484: The master's degree (post-nominal letters) in accordance with the new standard. When attaining a master level/graduate degree, it is still customary to use either drs. pre-nominally or MA/MSc post-nominally at the discretion of the holder. In the United Kingdom (excluding Scotland) and Ireland, the first degree course normally lasts three years, but nomenclature varies: 19th-century and later universities usually distinguish between arts and sciences subjects by awarding either
14872-425: The new world of social accessibility and moral indifference, the world which tempts all our promiscuous instincts, and where one cannot always figure out what a Jew is that a Christian is not. In Roth's fiction the exploration of "promiscuous instincts" within the context of Jewish lives, mainly from a male viewpoint, plays an important role. In the words of critic Hermione Lee : Philip Roth's fiction strains to shed
15015-524: The often higher heat index . Precipitation is evenly distributed throughout the year with the summer months being the wettest and fall months being the driest. The city receives precipitation ranging from 2.9 to 4.6 inches (74 to 117 mm) per month, usually falling on 8 to 12 days per month. Extreme temperatures have ranged from −14 °F (−26 °C) on February 9, 1934, to 108 °F (42 °C) on July 22, 2011. The January freezing isotherm that separates Newark into Dfa and Cfa zones approximates
15158-538: The population at the 2010 U.S. census. The racial makeup of the city in 2000 was 53.46% (146,250) black or African American, 26.52% (72,537) white, 1.19% (3,263) Asian, 0.37% (1,005) Native American, 0.05% (135) Pacific Islander, 14.05% (38,430) from other races, and 4.36% (11,926) from two or more races. 29.47% (80,622) of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 49.2% of the city's 80,622 residents who identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino were from Puerto Rico , while 9.4% were from Ecuador and 7.8% from
15301-446: The practice of Oxford and Cambridge by awarding BAs in all subjects, but have since changed to awarding BSc degrees in science subjects. At Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin the degree of MA can be claimed, usually twenty-one terms after matriculation , without any further study. For many centuries, the bachelor's degree was an intermediate step and was awarded for much of the work carried out in later times at secondary schools. The names of
15444-675: The present-day heart of Newark, and includes 26 public schools, two police precincts, including headquarters, four firehouses, and one branch library. The North Ward is surrounded by Branch Brook Park . Its neighborhoods include Broadway , Mount Pleasant , Upper Roseville and the affluent Forest Hill section. Forest Hill contains the Forest Hill Historic District, which is registered on state and national historic registers, and contains many older mansions and colonial homes . A row of residential towers with security guards and secure parking line Mt. Prospect Avenue in
15587-404: The province and the university for a three-year general degree to also be offered as an option. In many universities and colleges, Bachelor of Arts degrees are differentiated either as BA or as honours BA degrees. Honours programs require more education than non-honours programs, typically a specialization beyond the requirements of a BA, and can often be used as a gateway to a PhD program, bypassing
15730-457: The question of authorship is intertwined with the theme of the idealistic, secular Jewish son who attempts to distance himself from Jewish customs and traditions, and from what he perceives as the sometimes suffocating influence of parents, rabbis, and other community leaders. Roth's fiction has been described by critics as pervaded by "a kind of alienation that is enlivened and exacerbated by what binds it". Roth's first work, Goodbye, Columbus ,
15873-407: The realistic novel, the insatiable realistic novel with its multitude of realities, derives its ruthless intimacy. And its mission: to portray humanity in its particularity. While at Chicago in 1956, Roth met Margaret Martinson, who became his first wife in 1959. Their separation in 1963, and Martinson's subsequent death in a car crash in 1968, left a lasting mark on Roth's literary output. Martinson
16016-536: The religious lies. It's all a big lie," and "It's not a neurotic thing, but the miserable record of religion—I don't even want to talk about it. It's not interesting to talk about the sheep referred to as believers. When I write, I'm alone. It's filled with fear and loneliness and anxiety—and I never needed religion to save me." In 1990 Roth married his longtime companion, English actress Claire Bloom , with whom he had been living since 1976. When Bloom asked him to marry her, "cruelly, he agreed, on condition that she signed
16159-518: The ridges of Forest Hill, High Street, and Weequahic. Until the 20th century, the marshes on Newark Bay were difficult to develop, as the marshes were essentially wilderness, with a few dumps, warehouses, and cemeteries on their edges. During the 20th century, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey was able to reclaim 68 acres (28 ha) of the marshland for the further expansion of Newark Liberty International Airport , as well as
16302-442: The same subject in almost every single book. It's as though he's sitting on your face and you can't breathe ... I don't rate him as a writer at all ...". Observers noted that Callil had a conflict of interest, having published a book by Claire Bloom (Roth's ex-wife) that criticized Roth and lambasted their marriage. In response, one of the two other Booker judges, Rick Gekoski, remarked: In 1959 he writes Goodbye, Columbus and it's
16445-603: The school "has provided the focus for the fiction of Philip Roth, the novelist who evokes his era at Weequahic High School in the highly acclaimed Portnoy's Complaint . Besides identifying Weequahic High School by name, the novel specifies such sites as the Empire Burlesque, the Weequahic Diner, the Newark Museum and Irvington Park, all local landmarks that helped shape the youth of the real Roth and
16588-470: The second author so anthologized while still living, after Eudora Welty . Harold Bloom named him one of the four greatest American novelists of his day, along with Cormac McCarthy , Thomas Pynchon , and Don DeLillo . James Wood wrote: "More than any other post-war American writer, Roth wrote the self—the self was examined, cajoled, lampooned, fictionalized, ghosted, exalted, disgraced but above all constituted by and in writing. Maybe you have to go back to
16731-422: The second census in 70 years in which the city's population had grown from the previous enumeration. This trend continued in 2020, where Newark had an increase of 34,409 (12.4%) from the 277,140 counted in the 2010 census , the largest percentage increase in 100 years. After reaching a peak of 442,337 residents counted in the 1930 census , and a post-war population of 438,776 in 1950, the city's population saw
16874-522: The settlers' new work with God. Whatever the origins, the name was shortened to Newark, although references to the name "New Ark" are found in preserved letters written by historical figures such as David A. Ogden in his claim for compensation, and James McHenry , as late as 1787. During the American Revolutionary War , British troops made several raids into the town. The city saw tremendous industrial and population growth during
17017-479: The single best writer of fiction of the past 25 years, he would have won." Scott notes that "The Roth whose primary concern is the past—the elegiac, summarizing, conservative Roth—is preferred over his more aesthetically radical, restless, present-minded doppelgänger by a narrow but decisive margin." In 2009, Roth received the German newspaper Die Welt 's Welt -Literaturpreis . President Barack Obama awarded Roth
17160-429: The thing—animate or inanimate—without the crucial representation of what is real, there is nothing. Its concreteness, its unabashed focus on all the particulars, a fervor for the singular and a profound aversion to generalities is fiction's lifeblood. It is from a scrupulous fidelity to the blizzard of specific data that is a personal life, it is from the force of its uncompromising particularity, from its physicalness, that
17303-414: The unpublished Notes for My Biographer (a 295-page rebuttal to his ex-wife's memoir) and Notes on a Slander-Monger (another rebuttal, this time to a biographical effort from Bailey's predecessor). 'I don't want my personal papers dragged all over the place,' Roth said. The fate of Roth's personal papers took on new urgency in the wake of Norton's decision to halt distribution of the biography. In May 2021,
17446-450: The values and morals of middle-class Jewish Americans uncertain of their identities in an era of cultural assimilation and upward social mobility: The cry 'Watch out for the goyim!' at times seems more the expression of an unconscious wish than of a warning: Oh that they were out there, so that we could be together here! A rumor of persecution, a taste of exile, might even bring with it the old world of feelings and habits—something to replace
17589-441: The very different Henry James to find an American novelist so purely a bundle of words, so restlessly and absolutely committed to the investigation and construction of life through language... He would not cease from exploration; he could not cease, and the varieties of fiction existed for him to explore the varieties of experience." Philip Roth was born in Newark, New Jersey , on March 19, 1933, and grew up at 81 Summit Avenue in
17732-794: The way to live your artistic life. Sustain, sustain, sustain." Roth left his book collection and more than $ 2 million to the Newark Public Library . In 2021, the Philip Roth Personal Library opened for public viewing in the Newark Public Library. In April 2021, W. W. Norton & Company published Blake Bailey 's authorized biography of Roth, Philip Roth: The Biography . Publication was halted two weeks after release due to sexual assault allegations against Bailey. Three weeks later, in May 2021, Skyhorse Publishing announced that it would release
17875-409: The western suburbs of Essex County, where the population grew rapidly. The city has experienced revitalization since the 1990s, with major office, arts and sports projects representing $ 2 billion in investment. The city's population, which had dropped by more than a third from 1950 to its post-war low in 2000, has since rebounded, with 38,000 new residents added from 2000 to 2020. According to
18018-402: Was spiritual but not religious , agnostic , deistic , or atheist , though some Newarkers identified with neo-pagan religions including Wicca and other smaller new religious movements . More than 100,000 people commute to Newark each workday, making it the state's largest employment center with many white-collar jobs in insurance, finance, import-export, healthcare , and government. As
18161-436: Was $ 35,659 (with a margin of error of +/- $ 1,009) and the median family income was $ 41,684 (+/- $ 1,116). Males had a median income of $ 34,350 (+/- $ 1,015) versus $ 32,865 (+/- $ 973) for females. The per capita income for the township was $ 17,367 (+/- $ 364). About 22% of families and 25% of the population were below the poverty line , including 34.9% of those under age 18 and 22.4% of those age 65 or over. The median income for
18304-427: Was 8.5%. From the 1950s to 1967, Newark's non-Hispanic white population shrank from 363,000 to 158,000; its black population grew from 70,000 to 220,000. The percentage of non-Hispanic whites declined from 82.8% in 1950 to 11.6% by 2010. The percentage of Latinos and Hispanics in Newark grew between 1980 and 2010, from 18.6% to 33.8% while that of Blacks and African Americans decreased from 58.2% to 52.4%. At
18447-447: Was adapted for television in 1984. In 2014 filmmaker Alex Ross Perry made Listen Up Philip , which was influenced by Roth's work. HBO dramatized Roth's The Plot Against America in 2020 as a six-part series starting Zoe Kazan , Winona Ryder , John Turturro , and Morgan Spencer. John Updike , considered by many Roth's chief literary rival, said in 2008, "He's scarily devoted to the novelist's craft... [he] seems more dedicated in
18590-463: Was an irreverently humorous depiction of the life of middle-class Jewish Americans and received highly polarized reviews; one reviewer found it infused with self-loathing. In response, Roth, in his 1963 essay "Writing About Jews" (collected in Reading Myself and Others ), maintained that he wanted to explore the conflict between the call to Jewish solidarity and his desire to be free to question
18733-426: Was better, Roth said, "John had more talent, but I think maybe I got more out of the talent I had." McGrath agreed with that assessment, adding that Updike might be the better stylist, but Roth's work was more consistent and "much funnier". McGrath added that in the 1990s Roth "underwent a kind of sea change and, borne aloft by that extraordinary second wind, produced some of his very best work": Sabbath's Theater and
18876-489: Was brought up—winning, patriotism, gamesmanship—are desanctified; greed, fear, racism, and political ambition are disclosed as the motive forces behind the 'all-American ideals'." Although Roth's writings often explored the Jewish experience in America, Roth rejected being labeled a Jewish American writer. "It's not a question that interests me. I know exactly what it means to be Jewish and it's really not interesting," he told
19019-1137: Was celebrated in public ceremonies at the Newark Museum. One prize that eluded Roth was the Nobel Prize in Literature , though he was a favorite of bookmakers and critics for decades. Ron Charles of The Washington Post wrote that "thundering obituaries" around the world noted that "he won every other honor a writer could win", sometimes even two or three times, except the Nobel Prize. Roth worked hard to obtain his many awards, spending large amounts of time "networking, scratching people's backs, placing his people in positions, voting for them" in order to increase his chances of receiving awards. Eight of Roth's novels and short stories have been adapted as films: Goodbye, Columbus ; Portnoy's Complaint ; The Human Stain ; The Dying Animal , adapted as Elegy ; The Humbling ; Indignation ; and American Pastoral . In addition, The Ghost Writer
19162-488: Was elected to Phi Beta Kappa . He received a fellowship to attend the University of Chicago , where he earned an M.A. in English literature in 1955 and briefly worked as an instructor in the university's writing program. That same year, rather than wait to be drafted, Roth enlisted in the army, but suffered a back injury during basic training and was given a medical discharge . He returned to Chicago in 1956 to study for
19305-612: Was equally downbeat: The book can't compete with the screen. It couldn't compete beginning with the movie screen. It couldn't compete with the television screen, and it can't compete with the computer screen. ... Now we have all those screens, so against all those screens a book couldn't measure up. This was not the first time Roth had expressed pessimism about the future of the novel and its significance in recent years. Talking to The Observer ' s Robert McCrum in 2001, he said, "I'm not good at finding 'encouraging' features in American culture. I doubt that aesthetic literacy has much of
19448-693: Was honored in his hometown when then-mayor Sharpe James presided over the unveiling of a street sign in Roth's name on the corner of Summit and Keer Avenues, where Roth lived for much of his childhood, a setting prominent in The Plot Against America . A plaque on the house where the Roths lived was unveiled. In May 2006, he received the PEN/Nabokov Award , and in 2007 he received the PEN/Faulkner award for Everyman, making him
19591-442: Was meant to describe general studies more broadly. This definition of liberal studies remains to this day. In Japan and the United States, Bachelor of Arts degrees were historically given only by public or private institutions and colleges. In Germany, university-level education usually happens in either a Universität (plural: Universitäten ) or a Fachhochschule (plural: Fachhochschulen ); both can be referred to as
19734-414: Was noted that, the day after his burial, a pebble had been placed on top of his tombstone in accordance with Jewish tradition . Two of Roth's works won the National Book Award for Fiction ; four others were finalists. Two won National Book Critics Circle awards; another five were finalists. Roth won three PEN/Faulkner Awards (for Operation Shylock , The Human Stain , and Everyman ) and
19877-806: Was organized as a New Jersey township based on the Newark Tract, which was first purchased on July 11, 1667. Newark was granted a royal charter on April 27, 1713. It was incorporated on February 21, 1798, by the New Jersey Legislature 's Township Act of 1798 , as one of New Jersey's initial group of 104 townships. During its time as a township, portions were taken to form Springfield Township (April 14, 1794), Caldwell Township (February 16, 1798; now known as Fairfield Township ), Orange Township (November 27, 1806), Bloomfield Township (March 23, 1812) and Clinton Township (April 14, 1834, remainder reabsorbed by Newark on March 5, 1902). Newark
20020-425: Was published. It tells the story of the last performances of Simon Axler, a celebrated stage actor. Roth's 31st book, Nemesis , was published on October 5, 2010. According to the book's notes, Nemesis is the last in a series of four "short novels", after Everyman , Indignation and The Humbling . In October 2009, during an interview with Tina Brown of The Daily Beast to promote The Humbling , Roth considered
20163-403: Was reincorporated as a city on April 11, 1836, replacing Newark Township, based on the results of a referendum passed on March 18, 1836. The previously independent Vailsburg borough was annexed by Newark on January 1, 1905. In 1926, South Orange Township changed its name to Maplewood. As a result of this, a portion of Maplewood known as Ivy Hill was re-annexed to Newark's Vailsburg. The name of
20306-597: Was the inspiration for female characters in several of Roth's novels, including Lucy Nelson in When She Was Good and Maureen Tarnopol in My Life as a Man . Roth was an atheist who once said, "When the whole world doesn't believe in God, it'll be a great place." He also said during an interview with The Guardian : "I'm exactly the opposite of religious, I'm anti-religious. I find religious people hideous. I hate
20449-437: Was used in almost all fields of study; other titles were used for legal studies ( meester , Dutch for master, abbreviated Mr. ) and engineering ( ingenieur , abbreviated Ir. for academic masters level or ING. for higher vocational bachelor's level). Those who had already started the doctorandus program could, on completing it, opt for the doctorandus degree (entitling them to use "drs." in front of their name) or could use
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