Goodbye, Philip!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

                                    Forget Claire Bloom, for a moment, darlings.  I am not saying Philip Roth was any great shakes as a human being, but he was one hell of a writer.  That is, in his better books.

                                    My relationship with Philip Roth was similar to that of Joyce Carol Oates. Both are, and were, undeniably talented and gifted, but I would not read every single work.  Indeed, when I first read "Portnoy's Complaint," at age 14, which is actually the perfect age to read it, I worked my way through him till around "The Breast," then stopped altogether, until "The Plot Against America."  Whereupon I discovered "Sabbath's Theater, "Nemesis," about the polio epidemic, and what I consider his masterwork, "American Pastoral."

                                      Anyone with a serious interest in literature should read Philip Roth.  These are the works I suggest,  Some of you may be fond of others.  But if you are over 14, do not re-read 'Portnoy'.  It just does not hold up.

                                      Still, it did more for masturbation than Masters And Johnson.

                                       They say the ornery live longer.  With his heart problems, I was amazed to discover that Roth had made it to 85, when he passed.  Pretty good for one with his health issues.

                                         I cannot say for certain how many will miss Roth, the person.

                                         Readers such as I will miss Roth, the writer.

                                         May both rest in peace.

                                            Here is the literary work, with the pretty yellow and red jacket, that I refuse to have in my house.....for SHAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!