In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

  • Introduction
  • Benjamin Schreier

Organized by the Philip Roth Society and the Newark Preservation & Landmark Committee to mark the author’s eightieth birthday, Roth@80 was held March 18–19, 2013, in Newark, New Jersey, Roth’s hometown and the setting for much of his writing. The two-day affair started with an academic conference on March 18 and continued on March 19 with a series of less academic proceedings: a photography exhibit at the Newark Public Library, a guided tour of “Roth’s Newark” conducted by the Newark Preservation & Landmark Committee, and an evening reception (“with ample food,” we were reassured in the announcement and CFP) at the Newark Museum with Philip Roth as the honored guest. Jonathan Lethem, Hermione Lee, Claudia Roth Pierpont, and Edna O’Brien introduced Roth. Roth then spoke, and the centerpiece of his remarks was an extended reading from Sabbath’s Theater, the keynote of which, as is likely not surprising, was mortality. Louise Erdrich gave a kind of benediction (a “Native American blessing,” according to the program) to introduce the concluding, cake-and-champagne and receiving-line, portion of the evening. The cake was pretty cool: it was shaped like a bunch of books.

Here we’d like to offer a taste of the event, in two parts. Part 1 features narrative essays written by two participants, Brett Ashley Kaplan of the University of Illinois and Dean Franco of Wake Forest, describing the conference and celebratory activities in various aspects. Part 2 reproduces a round-table panel held [End Page 186] during the conference portion of the festivities that was titled “Teaching Roth: How, Now?” The round table was organized by Dean Franco and featured Ezra Cappell of the University of Texas at El Paso, Rachel Rubinstein of Hampshire College, Benjamin Schreier of Penn State, and Adam Zachary Newton of Yeshiva University. Here we will include a brief description of the panel by Dean Franco and then short papers written by each of the participants.

Benjamin Schreier
Pennsylvania State University
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