Slothrop & Invisible Man (My Two Teeth) For what it's worth

[Carvill, John]

> Every time I read a Roth I get intensely annoyed and yet I keep trying.

Really? I haven't read any Roth I didn't enjoy, except of course 'Exit Ghost', that was rubbish. But I loved everything else (that I've read).

The one I've found it hard to like is Updike. I loved the Rabbit books, but have yet to finish any other Updike.

For my money, though, Saul Bellow has them both beaten in terms of pure raw talent. He may have become a curmudgeonly old right-wing misogynist creep in later years, but there's no doubting his literary genius. A-and, his sense of humour has been, I would say, somewhat overlooked. I'll never forget the first time I read 'Humboldt's Gift': that toilet scene near the start is a classic.