Writing "American Pastoral"

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American Pastoral: the kiss – or how I got lucky

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Writing American Pastoral

Philip Roth Writer

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91. A book about the Vietnam war	415	01:49
92. American Pastoral: a family destroyed	438	02:44
93. Unlocking the pages	534	01:43
94. Writing American Pastoral	513	00:33
95. American Pastoral: the kiss – or how I got lucky	647	03:28
96. Page by page, how does it work?	771	03:28
97. Using words to make it real	550	02:35
98. The ordeal of writing	811	01:46
99. The writer's working day	1025	01:57
100. Writing and re-writing a novel	1105	02:23

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I don't remember what it was like writing that book. It took a couple of years. I'm sure I had my bad moments, but on the whole, I had the propulsion. I went forward with it. I... I can no longer… it's 15 years or so ago… I can no longer remember what the process was.

The fame of the American writer Philip Roth (1933-2018) rested on the frank explorations of Jewish-American life he portrayed in his novels. There is a strong autobiographical element in much of what he wrote, alongside social commentary and political satire. Despite often polarising critics with his frequently explicit accounts of his male protagonists' sexual doings, Roth received a great many prestigious literary awards which include a Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1997, and the 4th Man Booker International Prize in 2011.

Title: Writing "American Pastoral"

Listeners: Christopher Sykes

Christopher Sykes is an independent documentary producer who has made a number of films about science and scientists for BBC TV, Channel Four, and PBS.

Tags: bad moments, memories, writing process

Duration: 33 seconds

Date story recorded: March 2011

Date story went live: 18 March 2013