Phillip Roth's "DECEPTION" Proves Repeatedly His Literary Prowess

Phillip Roth (b. Amer 1933) is one of, if not the, most highly awarded living writer.  He is a consumate master of of the written word, be it fiction or nonfiction.  His writing is so deceptively clever, the barrier between fact/fiction is confusingly & cunningly fused.  Roth has received the Pulitzer Prize & mulitiple Man Booker Prizes, Nat'l Book Awards & Pen Faulkner awards & numerous multiple nominations for the echelons of the literary sphere.  DECEPTION, published in 1990, is a prime example of his genius at making art out of life by deriving out of his own life & lives of those whom he knows.  Nathan Zuckerman, Roth's doppelganger is the writer alluded to in DECEPTION as he has repeatedly alluded to in other works.  Although, perhaps never with such perplexity & guile has Roth sucessfully deluded his readers as to what is to be taken literally & what is contrived.  There are common themes in this novel which he has woven throughout many of his other books:  anti-Semitism, adultery, class barriers, cultural differences, detachment, deceit & conceit.  Roth is full of hubris for his own brilliance but he's honed his talent to write such sharp observations that his ego is earned.  DECEPTION is written in dialogue in multiple conversation formats.  A device that proves Roth's mastery of writing about the human condition.  When the unamed protagonist is pressed by one of his previous lovers regarding her  characterization in his book he responds, "What difference does that make.  I write fiction and I'm told it's autobiography, I write autobiography and I'm told it's fiction, so since I'm so dim and they're so smart, let them decide what it is or it isn't."  Touché Mr. Roth & with regards to your other point "I cannot and do not live in the world of discretion, not as a writer, anyway," I say, please keep writing away - I will read everything you write, and that includes your dirty laundry list.