A LIBRARY AS A LEGACY (Above) Philip Roth stands outside his Connecticut home in 2005; (Below) he is second from left in a 1943 family portrait.
HER FAVORITE ROTH WORK IS NOT
WHAT YOU’D EXPECT.
Steinbaum has been a fan
of Roth’s writing for a long
time, she says. “I think
American Pastoral is a
triumph. But my secret
sleeper favorite is The
Counterlife. I was once
with Philip, there was a big
group of us, when he took
out a stack of books and said,
d,
‘If you each pick one off this
stack I’ll inscribe it for you.’
My choice was The Counterlife.
ife.
It’s just brilliant, and touches
es on
a lot of things I’m interested in.”
SHE WANTS THE PHILIP ROTH
ROOM TO BE A “LITERARY
DESTINATION.”
“Roth’s books will be there, and
many of them have his notes in
base; people
peo
from all over the world
— France,
Fran Slovakia, Scandinavia —
have come flooding into Newark
because
they are such Philip
beca
Roth
Ro aficionados. It’s the
collection
of a reading writer,
co
maybe
the last great one
ma
of his time. Our hope is
to make this a literary
destination.”
de
them, in his handwriting. But it’s
not going to be a place for scholars;
it’s going to be a reader’s library,”
says Steinbaum. “Roth has a wide
and enthusiastic readership and fan
SHE ALSO WANTS IT TO BE FOR
THE YOUNG
PEOPLE OF NEWARK.
Y
Steinbaum
envisions the room as
Steinb
an inspirational
place for the city’s
inspira
youth. “Roth
has done a lot of writ-
“R
ing about
abou his own coming of age in
the Newark Public Library as a young
reader and writer. It is our hope and
fantasy that the next young writer to
come out of Newark will have found
his or her own place in the Philip
Roth Personal Library.” ■
MONTCLAIR MAGAZINE HOLIDAY 2018
25