# Shop Talk

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Shop_Talk
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Shop_Talk.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shop_Talk
> Source revision: 1339681325
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

***Shop Talk: A Writer and His Colleagues and Their Work*** is a collection of previously published [interviews](/source/Interview) with important 20th-century writers by novelist [Philip Roth](/source/Philip_Roth). Among the writers interviewed are [Primo Levi](/source/Primo_Levi), [Aharon Appelfeld](/source/Aharon_Appelfeld), [Ivan Klima](/source/Ivan_Klima), [Isaac Bashevis Singer](/source/Isaac_Bashevis_Singer), [Milan Kundera](/source/Milan_Kundera), and [Edna O'Brien](/source/Edna_O'Brien). In addition, the book contains a discussion with [Mary McCarthy](/source/Mary_McCarthy_(author)) about Roth's novel *[The Counterlife](/source/The_Counterlife)* and a *[New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)* essay on [Saul Bellow](/source/Saul_Bellow). Roth's trip to [Israel](/source/Israel) to interview Appelfeld inspired his novel *[Operation Shylock](/source/Operation_Shylock)*.

## Table of contents

- *Conversation in New York with [Isaac Bashevis Singer](/source/Isaac_Bashevis_Singer) about [Bruno Schulz](/source/Bruno_Schulz)*, from *[The New York Times Book Review](/source/The_New_York_Times_Book_Review)*, 1976
- *Conversation in London and Connecticut with [Milan Kundera](/source/Milan_Kundera)*, from *The New York Times Book Review*, 1980
- *Conversation in London with [Edna O'Brien](/source/Edna_O'Brien)*, from *The New York Times Book Review*, 1984
- *Pictures of [Malamud](/source/Bernard_Malamud)*, from *The New York Times Book Review*, 1986
- *A Man Saved by His Skills. Conversation in Turin with [Primo Levi](/source/Primo_Levi)*, from *The New York Times Book Review*, 12 ottobre 1986
- *Conversation in Jerusalem with [Aharon Appelfeld](/source/Aharon_Appelfeld)*, from *The New York Times Book Review*, 1988
- *Pictures of [Guston](/source/Philip_Guston)*, from *[Vanity Fair](/source/Vanity_Fair_(magazine))*, 1989
- *Conversation in Prague with [Ivan Klíma](/source/Ivan_Kl%C3%ADma)*, from *[The New York Review of Books](/source/The_New_York_Review_of_Books)*, 1990
- *An Exchange with [Mary McCarthy](/source/Mary_McCarthy_(author))*, from *[The New Yorker](/source/The_New_Yorker)*, 1998
- *Rereading [Saul Bellow](/source/Saul_Bellow)*, from *The New Yorker*, 2000

## Reception

Author [Daniel Handler](/source/Daniel_Handler), reviewing the book in the *[San Francisco Chronicle](/source/San_Francisco_Chronicle)*, called it "hodgepodge", with conversations that "fall flat" and were sometimes " vague and unsatisfying".[1] On the other hand, [Nicholas Lezard](/source/Nicholas_Lezard), in *[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian)*, found that "Roth asks all the right questions", with the answers being "consistently enlightening".[2]

## References

1. Handler, Daniel (7 October 2001). ["Philip Roth — underrated?"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/san-francisco-chronicle-philip-roth-un/191829537/). *[San Francisco Chronicle](/source/San_Francisco_Chronicle)*. p. R3. Retrieved 21 February 2026. – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

1. Lezard, Nicholas (14 September 2002). ["One Writer's genius at getting others to talk"](https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-guardian-one-writers-genius-at-gett/191830731/). *The Guardian*. p. 30. Retrieved 21 February 2026. – via [Newspapers.com](/source/Newspapers.com)

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Shop Talk](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shop_Talk) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shop_Talk?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.