Philip Roth biography, pulled last month, has new publisher

Bailey’s 900-page biography was begun in 2012 and written with the participation of Roth, who died in 2018. Released in early April by W.W. Norton & Company, Philip Roth received mostly positive reviews, although critics for The New York Times and The New Republic found Bailey too indulgent of Roth’s behaviour towards women. The book reached the Times bestseller list among others.

But two weeks after publication, reports from the Los Angeles Times, the New Orleans Times-Picayune and The AP among others featured extensive, on-the-record quotes from former students of Bailey while he was a middle-grade teacher in New Orleans in the 1990s.
The students alleged a pattern of inappropriate behavior while he was a teacher, and that he later pursued sexual relationships.

Two former students and book publishing executive Valentina Rice have alleged he assaulted them. Rice’s account first appeared in The New York Times and was confirmed by Rice to the AP.

This paperback cover image released by Skyhorse Publishing shows “Philip Roth: The Biography,” by Blake Bailey. (Photo: AP)

Norton initially paused the book’s printing and promotion, then withdrew it altogether, along with a Bailey memoir released in 2014, The Splendid Things We Planned.

Financial terms for the Skyhorse deal were not disclosed. Bailey, who has written acclaimed biographies of the authors’ John Cheever and Richard Yates, has denied any wrongdoing.

Bailey has been widely condemned, but not everyone agreed with Norton’s decision. PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel issued a statement at the time worrying that by Norton’s standard, thousands of books by bigots, misogynists and miscreants . . . could be removed from circulation.

The Nation columnist Katha Pollitt thought Bailey complicit in Roth’s view of women, but believed that readers should have the chance to buy the book and come to their own conclusions.” For book industry watchers, the Skyhorse announcement was not a major surprise.

Last year, Skyhorse published Woody Allen’s memoir Apropos of Nothing after it was pulled by Hachette Book Group, where employees staged a walkout in protest. Allen’s daughter Dylan Farrow has alleged he molested her when she was 7, an allegation Allen has denied.

More recently, Skyhorse reached a two-book deal with the author, columnist and radio host Garrison Keillor, dropped by Minnesota Public Radio and The Washington Post in 2017-18 over harassment allegations.

The books include the memoir That Time of Year, a late fall release in which Keillor is expected to address the allegations.