NEWARK, New Jersey (AP) -- Philip Roth has been honored in his hometown
of Newark, which has served as the setting for many of his 26 books.
Roth, whose "American Pastoral" was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for
fiction in 1997, was greeted at his childhood home by 75 fans who were
on a bus tour Sunday of places in Newark that have been featured in his
novels.
Mayor Sharpe James helped Roth unveil a plaque on the home and a street
sign renaming the road "Philip Roth Plaza."
"Today, Newark is my Stockholm and that plaque is my prize," the
72-year-old writer told the crowd at the Weequahic Branch Library, in
comments reported by the Star-Ledger of Newark.
He was referring to the Nobel Prize awarded every year in Stockholm,
Sweden. Roth was considered a front-runner for this year's Nobel, but
the award went to British playwright Harold Pinter.
Roth last visited the home, where he lived from 1933 to 1942, two years
ago. At the time, he was writing "The Plot Against America," a book
about what might have happened if Charles A. Lindbergh had run for
president and defeated Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940. The novel is set
in Newark's Weequahic neighborhood.
Philip Roth honored by hometown
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