An American Type

April 12, 2010
This posthumous work by the much lauded Roth (Call It Sleep
), assembled by former New Yorker
editor Davidson from nearly 2,000 manuscript pages, continues the story of Roth’s alter ego, Ira Stigman. Ira, a Jewish writer, has already published his first novel to much acclaim and is struggling with the second (at Yaddo, no less) when he falls for M, a fetching Midwestern pianist, despite having Edith, his domineering mentor and lover, waiting back in New York City. Ira’s search for artistic inspiration soon requires a change of scenery, so he and his latest muse, a fervent Communist, travel to L.A., but things get off to a rocky start: Ira’s one contact is no longer in town and work is hard to come by, but to turn to Edith or M for help would compromise Ira’s effort to stand on his own. The novel comes close to achieving its aspirations of being a sweeping portrait of 1930s America and the story of a writer struggling with art, love, and finding his own voice, but despite a strong start, the narrative loses resonance as it meanders toward an abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion.