The Many Sides of Roth

Abstract

John J. Winters evaluates Blake Bailey’s Philip Roth: The Biography, a comprehensive and controversial account of one of the most influential American novelists of the postwar period. Winters situates Bailey’s biography within long-standing debates about authorial self-fashioning, moral judgment, and the limits of biographical knowledge, foregrounding Roth’s own insistence on ambiguity, contradiction, and the multiplicity of selves. The review traces Roth’s literary development from early short fiction through the major novels and alter egos that defined his career, while also engaging critically with Bailey’s treatment of Roth’s personal life, particularly questions of misogyny, sexual ethics, and power. Winters weighs the biographer’s access to archival materials and narrative skill against concerns about authorial sympathy and moral blind spots, ultimately presenting the biography as both indispensable and troubling. By balancing admiration for Roth’s imaginative achievement with sustained ethical scrutiny, the review offers a nuanced assessment of how literary greatness, personal conduct, and cultural legacy intersect in contemporary biographical practice.