Fiction

Nemesis by Philip Roth

by Murray Waldren •

November 2010, no. 326

Jonathan Cape, $35 hb, 282 pp, 9780224089531

Fiction

Nemesis by Philip Roth

by Murray Waldren •

November 2010, no. 326

ith book thirty-one arriving as its author approaches his seventy-eighth birthday, the numbers are stacking up for Philip Roth. Yet while it is more than fifty years since his publishing début with Goodbye Columbus (1959), he seems to have locked on to an accelerating production line at a time when many of his contemporaries are in rocking chairs. That is an image with no relevance to Roth, given his energised mind, his curiosity-driven questing, and his self-confessed need ‘to make serious mischief’.

Murray Waldren

By this contributor

Murray Waldren has been a journalist at The Australian newspaper for 25 years, where his roles have included Literary Editor, Review Editor and Deputy Editor of The Australian Magazine. His literary rap sheet includes extensive author profiles and interviews, book reviews and columns, and he has written several books, among them Dining out with Mr Lunch, Moran V Moran and most recently The Mind and Times of Reg Mombassa. He is currently a judge for the Miles Franklin Literary Award and has been on judging panels for The Australian/Vogel’s Literary Award, the NSW Premiers Award and the ABC Fiction Award. He also compiles the Literary Liaisons website.