Happy weekend, writers!
One thing I won't be spending my Saturday/Sunday on is the new 900-page Philip Roth biography.
Not *just* because I have almost no interest in Philip Roth. I read Goodbye, Columbus out of obligation. It was fine. I highly doubt I'll read more Roth.
But even if Roth's work had grabbed me, I can't imagine wanting to read anything more than a Wikipedia entry about his life, especially before I'd read all of his published fiction.
My friend Aaron, a huge Roth fan, is excited to attack that bio. Even though he hasn't even read all of Roth's own work yet.
I suppose that even with writers whose work I love, I'm far more interested in their fictional worlds than I am in the reality of their lives.
When I run down the list of my favorite contemporary fiction writers -- Kevin Barry, Zadie Smith, George Saunders, Toni Morrison, Stuart Dybek -- yeah, I just can't talk myself into wanting to read a book-length bio.
But maybe I just haven't found my Philip Roth yet.
Have you found your Philip Roth? Do you read biographies of your favorite writers? What do you get out of them as a reader; as a writer?
If you don't read them, why not? If you had to choose a writer to read a 900-page bio of, which writer would you choose?
