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Reader's Paradise

Two more authors have died

7 years ago

Tom Wolfe last week and Philip Roth yesterday. It seems we have lost a lot of authors this year.

I read Bonfire of the Vanities many years ago. I remember not liking it, but finishing it b/c a good friend liked it so much. IIRC I didn't like any of the characters.

I don't think I've read any Philip Roth books.

Donna

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Rosefolly z5

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

None of the authors Kathy listed appeal to me remotely, Wolfe, Roth, Updike, or Bellow. I did read a couple of chapters of a book by Roth once and put it down saying to myself Really? As for Wolfe, I saw the movie of Bonfire of the Vanities and that was enough for me. I'm glad they lived successful lives, but their books are not ones I would enjoy reading. I've decided not to push myself to read worthy books I "should" read. I end up not reading at all.

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Comments (6)

vee_new
7 years ago
Donna, I don't think I have read any Wolfe but there is still time . ..Can anyone suggest which one to start with?

I remember a b/f lending me Portnoy's Complaint when it first came out in the late '60's. He claimed it had been named the 'best book' of the year. After I read it and questioned the 'best book' recommendation he said he had meant the best selling book of the year. it was considered rather 'rude' back then 'though parts were often funny . . . if a tad crude.
kathy_t
7 years ago
I have long been aware that I have not read any books at all by some of America's most renowned authors, Wolfe and Roth among them. Also on my unread list are John Updike, Saul Bellow, and several others whose names escape me at the moment. At times, I've thought of giving them a try as a way to educate myself about 20th Century American fiction, but when I read descriptions of their novels, I can never find one that tempts me. So while I'm sorry that we have lost these influential authors, I must admit to ignorance about their writing.
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yoyobon_gw
7 years ago
Re Roth: I can't look at a rolled beef roast with innocence any more.
woodnymph2_gw
7 years ago
I've not read the authors kathy listed either. But there are other American authors that I have read and that I consider worthy, if not "great". One would be William Styron ("Sophie's Choice", "Darkness Visible", "Confessions of Nat Turner", and others.
Bookwoman
7 years ago
The movie of Bonfire was just awful, despite Tom Hanks, but the book is a perfect satire of the 'Masters of the Universe' investment bankers in NYC in the 1980s. I think it's Wolfe's best work of fiction. His essays are also marvelous critiques of whichever decade/topic he happened to be writing about.

As for Roth, The Plot Against America is a must-read these days....

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