Philip Roth Provides Exclusive Reading From His New Book, "The Human Stain," Only On NYTimes.com.

News Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 8, 2000

The New York Times on the Web announced today that it has published an exclusive reading by Philip Roth from his new novel, "The Human Stain," on nytimes.com/books. The reading on NYTimes.com, a worldwide audio exclusive, is the only reading Mr. Roth will do from the novel, as he will not be making any in-store appearances.

"We're honored that such a major author was eager to work with us to bring his work to the Web in this new way," said Bill Goldstein, books editor for NYTimes.com. "The fact that he isn't making any bookstore appearances highlights how the Web is changing the way authors publicize their books and make contact with their readers. We're thrilled to be able to provide our users with this audio exclusive, available only on nytimes.com/books."

NYTimes.com is also providing a complete retrospective of Roth's life and work drawn from its archives as part of a special Roth feature that includes the audio exclusive. A review of "Human Stain," published in the May 7 issue of The New York Times Book Review, also appears on the site, as well as an interview with Mr. Roth from the Book Review.

NYTimes.com/books features the complete contents of the weekly New York Times Book Review as well as a free archive of all book reviews published in The Times since 1980.

Philip Roth published five major works in the 1990s including Patrimony (1991); Operation Shylock (1993); Sabbath's Theater (1995), winner of the National Book Award; American Pastoral (1997), winner of the Pulitzer Prize; and I married a Communist (1998). His work has been acclaimed around the world and, in 1998, he received the National Medal of Arts at the White House.

New York Times Digital, a division of The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), provides news, information and interaction through its own Web sites as well as affiliate partners. NYTD's family of sites includes NYTimes.com, Boston.com, NYToday.com, WineToday.com, GolfDigest.com and Abuzz, which develops sophisticated community and knowledge-sharing applications for use on the Internet.