In 1968 Truman Capote told Playboy: “Bernard Malamud and Saul Bellow and Philip Roth and Isaac Bashevis Singer and Norman Mailer are all fine writers but they’re not the only writers in the country as the "Jewish Literary Mafia" would have us believe.” On April 15, 1969 on the Johnny Carson Show, talking about the recent publication and success of Roth’s Portnoy’s Complaint, Capote credited the "Jewish Literary Mafia" with the success of that novel and explained himself : “Philip Roth is a friend and very talented. But you see, there’s this whole thing in New York-it’s called the Jewish Literary Mafia, and it starts at Columbia University and it goes through all the little magazines and what-not; and I don’t mean that it’s conscious or unconscious-but they promote each other continuously. And they promote this little clique of which Philip Roth is the youngest, and in many ways, the most brilliant. And they started the drum going for this book-you know-a good year and a half ago, and it’s just appearing in the magazines. [At that time, there were many other productive Jewish writers, such as E.L. Doctorow, Stanley Elkin, Joseph Heller, Chaim Potok, Ayn Rand, Henry Roth, J.D. Salinger, Irwin Shaw, Susan Sontag, Leon Uris and Elie Weisel none of whom, apparently, was in the "Jewish Literary Mafia".]
Singer, Malamud, Bellow, and Roth were born between 1903 and 1933. Their works became central to American literature after World War II and up to about 2018. Between the four of them, they earned numerous literary awards including a two Nobels, three Pulitzer’s, and ten National Book Awards.
In this SDG we will read some of their short stories and novellas. We will compare them to each other, find their common themes and subject matter and try to determine why they were so successful in their time, what legacy they left and who, if anyone, has or will likely replace them.
