Forward’s Talya Zax: Philip Roth doesn’t live here anymore: A writer, a stonemason, an American friendship. “Murdock still worked for Roth, but more and more, the work was rooted in affection and trust. While Roth was still writing — he stopped in 2010 — he would sometimes give Murdock piles of pages to burn, which Murdock did, in big bonfires in his backyard. He said he never even snuck a peek at what Roth brought him.” (Most days I feel like burning my writing too, I just can’t afford all the new laptops.)