Philip Roth – the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "American Pastoral" and other highly acclaimed works such as "Portnoy's Complaint," "The Human Stain" and "The Plot Against America" – has died of congestive heart failure, The Associated Press reported late Tuesday. He was 85.
Fellow writers and public figures took to Twitter to share their condolences and reflect on Roth's novels. Here's what they had to say:
Thank you to Philip Roth for exploring the tumult of human emotion. I was gifted “American Pastoral” by a close friend who held it up as his favorite novel. He has impeccable taste. An unblinking eye on our world. Thank you.
— Jordan Klepper (@jordanklepper) May 23, 2018
"I always joke that my intellectual formation was through Jewish scholars and writers, even though I didn’t know it at the time. Whether it was theologians or Philip Roth who helped shape my sensibility...." -- @BarackObama, 2008. https://t.co/1UOAl83SzC
— Jeffrey Goldberg (@JeffreyGoldberg) May 23, 2018
Improbably, I had the honor of meeting Philip Roth just a few months ago to discuss an adaptation of Plot Against America. At 85, he was more precise and insightful, more intellectually adept and downright witty than most any person of any age. What a marvelous, rigorous mind.
— David Simon (@AoDespair) May 23, 2018
RIP Philip Roth. Eighty-five years is a good long life but I still gasped at seeing this news. A giant. I can think of many readers and writers who didn't love him, but none who couldn't learn something from reading him.
— Mark Harris (@MarkHarrisNYC) May 23, 2018
Philip Roth and Tom Wolfe both gone in the same eight days. One thing is certain: Smart is dying, while Stupid is rapidly expanding.
— Randi Mayem Singer (@rmayemsinger) May 23, 2018
RIP Philip Roth. This one hurts, both me and all of literature. He taught me when I was at Columbia and was a huge influence, impressing upon me the importance of writing through the hard times. I have many favorite books by Roth, but this is one of them. pic.twitter.com/KbbvA7XR3w
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) May 23, 2018
Interior, Manhattan bookstore in the early 2000s. People browsing, sipping coffee in the cafe area. A large black man approaches an older white guy.
— jelani cobb (@jelani9) May 23, 2018
Me: Excuse me but aren’t you Philip Roth?
Philip Roth: No.
Me: Oh my god. That’s exactly what I’d expect Philip Roth to say...
We all wanted to be Philip Roth. None of us came close.
— Michael Green (@andmichaelgreen) May 23, 2018
RIP Philip Roth. Never created an uncomplicated hero, and we wouldn't have had it any other way. Remarkable writer.
— Michael McKean (@MJMcKean) May 23, 2018
They announced that they weren't giving a Nobel Prize in Literature this year, and it literally killed Philip Roth. RIP. https://t.co/XxrFzzbguo
— Dana Schwartz (@DanaSchwartzzz) May 23, 2018
Heartbroken. No one like him now or ever. https://t.co/6x3HqLyQwS
— Gary Shteyngart (@Shteyngart) May 23, 2018
RIP Philip Roth. One of our greats. A very sad moment for American, and global, literature.
— Pamela Paul (@PamelaPaulNYT) May 23, 2018
Philip Roth was the best writer of prose in America in the second half of the 20th century. Which ain’t nothin.
— John Podhoretz (@jpodhoretz) May 23, 2018
– The Associated Press contributed to this report.