Paris Review - In Which Philip Roth Gave Me Life Advice, Julian Tepper

Roth: Writing Is "An Awful Field"
FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2008 file photo, author Philip Roth poses for a photo in the offices of his publisher Houghton Mifflin, in New York. The 79-year-old novelist recently told a French publication, Les inRocks, that his 2010 release "Nemesis" would be his last. A spokeswoman for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said Friday that she spoke with Roth and that he confirmed his remarks. Roth completed more than 20 novels over half a century and often turning out one a year. He won virtually every prize short of the Nobel and wrote such classics as "American Pastoral" and "Portnoy's Complaint." (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)
FILE - In this Sept. 8, 2008 file photo, author Philip Roth poses for a photo in the offices of his publisher Houghton Mifflin, in New York. The 79-year-old novelist recently told a French publication, Les inRocks, that his 2010 release "Nemesis" would be his last. A spokeswoman for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt said Friday that she spoke with Roth and that he confirmed his remarks. Roth completed more than 20 novels over half a century and often turning out one a year. He won virtually every prize short of the Nobel and wrote such classics as "American Pastoral" and "Portnoy's Complaint." (AP Photo/Richard Drew, file)

Roughly two weeks ago in the dining room of a Jewish deli on the Upper West Side (whose name, for legal reasons, must remain undisclosed) I served Philip Roth his usual nova, eggs, and onions (egg whites only); a bialy (hold the cream cheese and butter); and a large, fresh-squeezed orange juice.

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