More Goodbyes (and one Good Riddance) for Philip Roth

Philip Roth's recent announcement that he was retiring from fiction prompted headlines around the world. It has also prompted a chorus of envy, skepticism and at least one “finally!” from three dozen writers recently canvassed by Flavorwire.com.

“As a fan, I'm angry and disappointed.” the graphic novelist Adrian Tomine said. “As a struggling writer, I'm deeply envious.” Peter Carey echoed the sentiment, asking, “Why should he escape?” A.M. Homes expressed “panic”: “What will I do without the next Philip Roth novel?”

“If it's true, the man had done his job and mightily,” said Junot Diaz. “If it's not true: even better.” The poet and novelist Eileen Myles, mea nwhile, provided a lone dissent from the general chorus of respectful lamentation.

“I'm happy he's still alive and we won't have to keep hearing about his boring books,” she said. “It's very generous of him to stop.”