American · 1933–2018
Philip Roth won every major American literary prize except the Nobel, which he deserved. "Portnoy's Complaint" (1969) made him famous and controversial; "American Pastoral" (1997) won the Pulitzer Prize; "Sabbath's Theater" (1995) won the National Book Award. Roth's subject was usually himself—or a version of himself—but his autobiographical fiction achieved universal reach. "The Human Stain," "The Plot Against America," and a dozen other novels secured his place among the essential American writers. He won the International Booker Prize in 2011 for lifetime achievement. He died in 2018.