In a Slate interview a few months ago, Philip Roth declared that he no longer reads fiction:
“I’ve stopped reading fiction,” he said. “I don’t read it at all. I read other things: history, biography. I don’t have the same interest in fiction that I once did.” Asked why, he said: “I don’t know. I wised up.”
Perhaps that explains why the Nobel prize bookies are giving him only 25-1 odds for picking up a prize this year, behind Adonis (4-1), Tomas Transtromer (9-2), Thomas Pynchon (10-1), and Haruki Murakami (16-1). He is tied, in the odds, with Cormac McCarthy, Joyce Carol Oates, and Don DeLillo.
On the other hand, it's rather surprising that Philip Roth ever read fiction. His own novels betray hardly a trace of interest in any of the fabulous literature published since the Second World War. I'd wager that only complete ignorance of the ambitious works of other writers could explain Roth's famous arrogance.
(Click to read about the Nobel prize betting)
