Alan Bennett says he prefers American writers such as Philip Roth because he does not "feel any of the people writing in England can tell me very much"
British playwright, screenwriter, actor and author Alan Bennett Photo: Clara Molden/Telegraph
The Telegraph - 06 May 2014
From The History Boys to his Talking Heads monologues, no living writer has captured the essence of the English quite as Alan Bennett has done.
However, he has little praise for his contemporaries. In a rare interview, the playwright and author said that he preferred the work of American writers.
In an extract from the BBC Four interview with Nicholas Hytner, the director of the National Theatre, published in Radio Times, he said: “I’m very ill-read. I don’t know if that sounds over-modest, but it’s quite true.
“I like American literature more than I do contemporary English literature. I like Philip Roth, for instance.
