Philip Roth Has Died & Many Fans Are Sharing Their Favorite Memories Of His Work

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Roth died on Tuesday night at the age of 85 in a New York City hospital, The New York Times reports. Writer and friend Judith Thurman confirmed to the paper that the cause was congestive heart failure. His passing comes just days after the death of Tom Wolfe.

Roth, the author of American Pastoral and Portnoy's Complaint, has been retired from writing since 2012, but his influence has never wavered. Beginning with Goodbye, Columbus in 1959, he published 27 novels, culminating with Nemesis in 2010. He was always considered a favorite to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, which can only be awarded to a living author. Although he never did win the Nobel, he received two National Book Awards, a Pulitzer Prize, and the Man Booker International Award, and many other honors in his lifetime. Though his work has often been criticized (not wrongfully) of being misogynistic and sexist, he was considered in his lifetime and in his death to be one of the greatest American writers.

Like many authors, Roth was also a prolific reader. In 2016, he announced that after his death, his personal book collection would be donated to the public library in Newark, N.J. According to an NPR report about the announcement, his personal library contains "three-thousand-five-hundred books, give or take."

After the news of his passing, many fans took to social media to share their memories of his work — here are a few: