born March 19, 1933, Newark, N.J.,U.S.
U.S. writer.
Roth attended the University of Chicago and first achieved fame with Goodbye Columbus (1959), whose title story concerns the boorish materialism of a suburban family. His works are characterized by an acute ear for dialogue, a concern with Jewish middle-class life, and the painful entanglements of sexual and familial love. Among his subsequent novels are the comic and scandalous Portnoy's Complaint (1969) and an admired series centring on a writer named Nathan Zuckerman, including The Ghost Writer (1979) and Zuckerman Unbound (1981). His later works include Sabbath's Theater (1995, National Book Award) and American Pastoral (1997, Pulitzer Prize).