AMERICAN MASTERS

In this film excerpt from Janis: Little Girl Blue, Chan Marshall narrates Janis Joplin’s letter home to family shortly after her 27th (and last) birthday. The letter reveals a glimpse into her off-stage struggles, mostly rooted in her reckless lifestyle and strong desire to be ...

American Masters explores the life and career of Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning novelist Philip Roth, often referred to as the greatest living American writer. Reclusive and diffident, Roth grants very few interviews, but for the first time, allowed a journalist to spend 10 ...

George Plimpton was famous for shaping one of the country's most prestigious literary magazines, all while keeping it fun. He encouraged his young staff and created an informal community with plenty of apartment parties and sports activities. Robert Silvers of The New York Review of ...

Portnoy’s Complaint: the book that made Philip Roth.

Philip Roth reads from his book, Portnoy’s Complaint. As Martha Saxton wrote in Literary Guild in 1974, it's the story of "a lust-ridden, mother addicted young Jewish bachelor."

The writing process of Philip Roth: “I invent a character as I go along,” he says. “You must find everything about this man. Who he is, where he’s from, what he’s done, what his family is.” Roth says, “There’s a journalistic side to writing novels,” ...

Philip Roth reads from his book, American Pastoral (1997). It's Roth's elegy for the 20th Century's promises of prosperity, civic order and domestic bliss.

Philip Roth on obscenity. While it's not all too uncommon for a writer to turn to the obscene from time to time, Roth made it a sort of trademark -- especially in his book, Portnoy's Complaint (1969).

Philip Roth talks about his friendship with the Italian writer Primo Levi, author of If This Is a Man (1947) and The Periodic Table (1975).

Philip Roth thinks the screen -- the movie screen, the TV screen, the computer screen -- will take the "serious readers" away from serious writing.