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Niko Bellic
10/27/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
Let me know when he puts his thoughts into about 300 pages. I trust him to make sure it all comes out of the mouth of a cynical selfish old jerk, so we can be left to draw our own conclusions and shit... you follow? #philiproth
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lukeoneil47
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
Roth gives jerking off a bad name, and that's pretty fucking hard to do. American Pastoral was tedious and phony. He also wrote a book in which a man turns into a breast. A book in which a man turns into a breast.

A book in which a man turns into a breast. #philiproth
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snugbug
10/26/09

@lukeoneil47: C'mon, that scene in Portnoy's Complaint when the teenaged namesake protagonist rapes a piece of liver on his way to a bar mitzvah lesson? Solid gold. No one wrote more evocatively about jerking off than Roth.

Evidence in quote:

"Oh shove it in me, Big Boy," cried the cored apple that I banged silly on that picnic. "Big Boy, Big Boy, oh give me all you've got," begged the empty milk bottle that I kept hidden in our storage bin in the basement, to drive wild after school with my vaselined upright. "Come, Big Boy, come" screamed the maddened piece of liver that, in my own insanity, I bought one afternoon at the butcher shop and, believe it or not, violated behind a billboard on the way to a bar mitzvah lesson."
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Edited by snugbug at 10/26/09 11:17 PM snugbug was starred snugbug was unstarred

lukeoneil47
10/26/09

@snugbug: Evocative of what?

#philiproth
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snugbug
10/27/09

@lukeoneil47: Evocative of the mixture of guilt and ecstasy that many people experience when they masturbate. I apologize for stating the obvious, but you asked for it. #philiproth
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lukeoneil47
10/27/09

@snugbug: People really felt guilty about masturbation? I thought that was just a set up for comedy bits.

I suppose that's a thing of the past by now huh? Quaint almost.
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Edited by lukeoneil47 at 10/27/09 12:51 PM lukeoneil47 was starred lukeoneil47 was unstarred

snugbug
10/27/09

@lukeoneil47: You're neither Jewish, Christian or Muslim, are you? No wonder Philip Roth doesn't ring your bell. =) #philiproth
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lukeoneil47
10/28/09

@snugbug: On the contrary my good man and or woman, I was raised Irish Catholic in Massachusetts. I know a little something about repressing shit. #philiproth
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snugbug
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
I've read Portnoy's Complaint more times than I can count on the fingers of one hand, but slogging through The Plot Against America has been like rolling a boulder uphill. Positively a Sisyphus chore. I've started and abandoned it at least six times. Forget "two weeks"; at this point I aspire to finish it before I kick the bucket.

PS: This might be my favorite "Quote of the Day" so far. I love talented smarties who say faux-dumb/provocative stuff just to get a rise out of people. I used to think Karl Lagerfeld was the undisputed champion of this game, but I'm tipping my hat to Mr. Roth as I type this.. #philiproth
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MiracleDrug
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
What shameless elitism. He's setting up an arbitrary barrier-to-entry in front of people who want to access "literature." You could make up an infinite number of similar plausible-sounding but ultimately ridiculously pretentious rules about reading.

EG: You aren't really reading a novel if:
1. You don't listen to 15 minutes of Mozart beforehand.
2. You don't stop every few minutes to look a window and contemplate.
3. After reading you don't perform a meditative cranberry juice douche.

etc... #philiproth
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Baroness
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
I really admire Tina, but her squinting and trying to move her facial muscles in the DB video of her conversation with Roth is disconcerting. And are they drinking water? Beast Bar, my ass. It's a great idea, but next time I want to see some booze. #philiproth
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belltolls
10/26/09

@Baroness: I think she is a bit sweet on him. But truly Roth's novels for the most part are great and Roth is great and it was just fun to hear him talk and just be a great old writer...which is great. #philiproth
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Wendy_Kroy
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
The Dorian Gray portrait I have in my attic went from Zac Efron to Nick Nolte in the time it took me to finish Infinite Jest. #philiproth
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$Image of Terrafractal$ Terrafractal
10/26/09

@Wendy_Kroy: I'm a little over halfway through IJ. It's open at arm's length on the side table right now, taunting me. I think calling it a "book" or "novel" is a vast understatement. #philiproth
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mexiback
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
That's just stupid. #philiproth
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Smitros
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
If I keep going at the current rate I will have not read 26 Philip Roth novels this year, which means he'd better start cranking a few more out. #philiproth
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Edited by Smitros at 10/26/09 6:02 PM Smitros was starred Smitros was unstarred

AndPreciousLittleofThat
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
Sorry Phil, but it sounds like you want Americans to read the way people eat at McDonalds: in big bites, just to cram it down.

Some of us like to chew and taste our food, thank you very much.

All of my most favorite books have taken WAY longer than two weeks to read. Tristram Shandy and Sam Butler's "Hudibras" come to mind off the top of the dome. #philiproth
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se7a7n7
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
If that's true then Chuck Palahniuk books are the only ones I can "read".

Actually, I'm so bad reading books, Chuck's books are the only ones I can finish. #philiproth
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westvillagegirl (exiled in chicago)
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
Unless you're the guy from MicroMachines, there's no way you could possibly finish a novel like War & Peace or Vanity Fair in two weeks.
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lukeoneil47 promoted this comment Edited by westvillagegirl (exiled in chicago) at 10/26/09 5:03 PM

lukeoneil47
10/26/09

@westvillagegirl (exiled in chicago): I just read W+P for the first time. Took me about 3 months. I had to read a few other things for work in between, but it was my sole pleasure reading every night before bed/ on subway/ at gym etc.

Anyway, turns I didn't actually read it after all according to this arbitrary standard. #philiproth
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westvillagegirl (exiled in chicago)
10/27/09

@lukeoneil47: Yeah, I read W&P in college. Even ignoring pretty much all my other reading, it took me a good month and half. Maybe Philip is talking about his (overrated in my opinion) short little tomes? #philiproth
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Gnip-Gnop
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
Dickens' and Dostoevsky's novels were serialized in magazines at the time they were written. Readers would have had to wait months, or even over a year to finish them. So, what the hell does that say, then? #philiproth
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skahammer
10/26/09

@Gnip-Gnop: That they didn't write novels? #philiproth
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BadUncle
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
Well, I know I won't be reading Philip Roth novels - and it's not because I'm a slow, dislexic reader with a job. #philiproth
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yourfriendandneighbor
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
I knew it. I've never read a book. #philiproth
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Dominant Glee Club
10/26/09

In reply to Philip Roth —
Let's all be ridiculously reductive! Wait, no time; I have to finish Bleak House in two weeks. You know, Roth, some of us have jobs. #philiproth
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CaptainFantastic
10/26/09

@Dominant Glee Club: and friends that are not cats, and kids. #philiproth
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