Howard Jacobson has been described as Britain's version of a Philip Roth and his most recent endeavor, Kalooki Nights does little to dissuade that classification. Recently, the author was interviewed for the News & Star where he talked about his studies at Cambridge, picking up chicks, and his fruitful career as an author on Mancunian Jewish culture.

When topic turned to Philip Roth, Jacobson described his brief encounter with the author:

Jacobson wryly asked if wasn’t about time he referred to himself as the “American Howard Jacobson” – a suggestion that sped the other author [Roth] silently from the room.

How very anti-climatic, but with social anxiety neuroses fitting for a Roth novel.