April 27th, 2009 / 4:04 pm
Author Spotlight

The ecstasy of a faint outdoor wind: A photo essay by Philip Roth

a21

Hi, I’m Philip Roth, the author American Pastoral and other books without so much foliage. I love the smell of fresh cut grass and foreskin. But hey, enough with the Jewish jokes. Whenever the camera crew comes to do a profile on me, I say “Hey, I have an idea — it would be nice if we went outside.”

a13I’m thinking. I’m thinking about America and the plight of the ‘other.’ I’m thinking about a waspy girl I once wanted to make love to. I’m thinking of that protestant ass. I’m thinking of my shopping list: eggs, broccoli, extra virgin olive oil, national book award, toilet paper. God I love being outside at or around dusk.

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Let me tell you something mother fuckers: it’s not easy writing all day. Sometimes I like to take a long walk by the stone wall and sit down and wait for a mojito — which never comes. If one were to magically appear in my lap, I’d believe in surrealism once and for all; but for now, social realism will have to do.

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So I took this long ass walk on an idyllic New England back road and now I’m really parched, which presents my lack of a mojito in a new light. Let’s not get into the post-colonial implications of rum. I just need a drink, and I’m not trying to pull a Henry Miller on you. Mmm, I think I just saw Salinger down the road…

a101Okay I found my way back to my house. All you iPhone kids take your google map geographical certainty for granted. You don’t know what it’s like to not have a home — to be a constant visitor in your own country, to be ‘nationalistically homeless.’ I tried using that line on my property tax collector. Didn’t work. Where the fuck is my mojito?

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Yah — I get around. It’s not all verdant with me. I’ll swing by the city now and then to meet with my publishers. It’s called a per diem you ‘internet writers,’ christ. The power lunchin’ boys at Houghton Mifflin really understand the redeeming power of a rare steak w/ Martini. Finally, I did get my mojito. The point is, I’m still outside.

a71If I have to be inside a building, I prefer to be on the balcony. If there’s a communist flag waving around, all the better. I didn’t actually marry a communist, but it makes for quite a provocative title.

a111Let’s just say I’ve always liked being outside. The American voice is subconsciously outdoors, think Whitman and Thoreau. My old girlfriend of mine took this picture. I was reconstructing a version of the ‘Humpty Dumpty’ tale, sitting on a wall and all. Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall/ Humpty Dumpty had a great fall/ All the king’s horses/ And all the king’s men / Were anti-semites, amen.

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It was the summer of another breathless year, those which leaned from the past assuredly. Our fated generation, supine on some urban park, didn’t fear the imminent demise as much as a grass stain on our ass. I dreamed of an endless futon on which we could sit, before the English Department could tell us to go back inside. What sounded like a whisper was an eternal sigh. With each open mouth, two lungs collapsed. This was the end of America.



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27 Comments

  1. pr

      Genuis.

  2. john sakkis

      pretty great, awesome…

  3. john sakkis

      pretty great, awesome…

  4. Matthew Simmons

      Stop it, you.

  5. Matthew Simmons

      Stop it, you.

  6. Brent Bogardus

      Funny shit

  7. Brent Bogardus

      Funny shit

  8. Blake Butler

      thank you for making today yummy

  9. Blake Butler

      thank you for making today yummy

  10. Ryan Call

      i really liked this.

  11. Ryan Call

      i really liked this.

  12. Jimmy Chen

      thanks all.

  13. Jimmy Chen

      thanks all.

  14. DaveM

      Wow.

  15. DaveM

      Wow.

  16. mike young

      !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  17. mike young

      !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  18. Adam Peterson

      Very nice.

  19. Adam Peterson

      Very nice.

  20. David Erlewine

      About this I have no complaint

  21. David Erlewine

      About this I have no complaint

  22. Pete

      All those outdoor shots are indeed strange…given that he craps out another tome every year, I would have assumed he spends most of his time holed up in his office.

  23. Pete

      All those outdoor shots are indeed strange…given that he craps out another tome every year, I would have assumed he spends most of his time holed up in his office.

  24. addison

      electronic press kit!!

  25. addison

      electronic press kit!!

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