Eminent novelist Philip Roth dies at 85 in Manhattan
What's the story
Philip Roth, a prolific writer and a dominant force in American literature throughout the latter half of the 20th century, has died at 85.
An essayist and critic, Roth was best known for mining the Jewish-American experience in his work.
The New York Times, citing a close friend, confirmed the death of the Pulitzer Prize winner, who lived in New York and Connecticut.
Do you know?
Roth won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1998
Phillip Roth won the 1998 Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his acclaimed novel "American Pastoral". The Guardian dubbed the novel as one of Roth's masterpieces.
Life and Work
I don't write Jewish, I write American
Roth's titanic stature on the post-World War II literary scene came from the universality of his message: "I don't write Jewish, I write American."
His most widely admired political trilogy included "American Pastoral" as well as "I Married a Communist" (1998), and "The Human Stain" (2000).
The decorated author won the most top literary honors but the coveted Nobel Literature Prize eluded him.
Personal
Roth's Jewish-American genes
Philip Milton Roth was born on March 19, 1933, in Newark, New Jersey, the grandson of European Jews, who were part of the 19th-century wave of immigration to the United States.