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Philip Roth reads from Sabbath’s Theater in his last public reading. As The New York Times  wrote of the evening:

Philip Roth made headlines a year and a half ago with the announcement that he had stopped writing fiction.

Now he is also giving up reading it — out loud and in public, at least.

Mr. Roth, 81, declared his renunciation on Thursday at a private reception following his sold-out reading at the 92nd Street Y in Manhattan.

“You can write it down: This was absolutely the last appearance I will make on any public stage, anywhere,” Mr. Roth told a reporter before turning back to the stream of friends and admirers lined up to greet him.

“You should take him at his word," his agent told the Times in a email. “It was absolutely his last appearance on any stage anywhere.”