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Philip Roth's best books, novels and quotes: A look back on the life of the legendary author

Corbis via Getty Images
Corbis via Getty Images

On Tuesday night, novelist Philip Roth died of congestive heart failure. He was 85.

Throughout his six decade-long career, Roth explored what is was like to be a man, a Jew, a writer and an American in his 31 novels and novellas.

In 1997 he received a Pulitzer Prize for fiction for his novel, American Pastoral and won a number of awards and accolades throughout his career.

In 2012, after re-reading all of his books, he announced Nemesis - published two years prior - would be his last novel.

After he stopped writing, Roth spent his free time reading, swimming and spending time with friends, CNN reported.

To celebrate his life and body of work, we have rounded up his best books and novels below.

Best books and novels

Click through the gallery below to see our selection of Philip Roth’s best books.

Best quotes

On the best kind of readers …

“Everybody else is working to change, persuade, tempt and control them. The best readers come to fiction to be free of all that noise.”

On love …

“The only obsession everyone wants: 'love.' People think that in falling in love they make themselves whole? The Platonic union of souls? I think otherwise. I think you're whole before you begin. And the love fractures you. You're whole, and then you're cracked open. ”

On life’s lesson …

“He had learned the worst lesson that life can teach - that it makes no sense.”

Roth receives the National Humanities Medal from former American President, Barack Obama in 2011 (AFP/Getty Images)
Roth receives the National Humanities Medal from former American President, Barack Obama in 2011 (AFP/Getty Images)

On ageing …

“Stop worrying about growing old. And think about growing up.”

On partnerships …

“The pleasure isn't in owning the person. The pleasure is this. Having another contender in the room with you.”

On reading …

“Literature takes a habit of mind that has disappeared. It requires silence, some form of isolation, and sustained concentration in the presence of an enigmatic thing.”

On our mortality …

“Life is just a short period of time in which you are alive.”