I have never read any of Philip Roth’s novels. He is, admittedly – along with most of American literature – one of my literary blind spots. When his name is called up in passing, I reflect both on my many friends who adore his novels and that they tend to see him as a “problematic fave”, in the modern parlance, because his treatment of women was appalling by most reasonable standards. So when a new biography of Philip Roth was trailed in the papers recently, with headlines that included “Phillip Roth could get CANCELLED after his biographers posthumously reveal his ‘misogyny and sexual depravity’”, I didn’t really take any notice.