The Ghost Writer (1979) by American writer Philip Roth is the first in a number of novels narrated by fictional character Nathan Zukerman.

In The Ghost Writer – set in 1956 - Nathan Zuckerman is a young aspirational writer who is invited to spend the night at the home of older & established writer E. I. Lonoff.

E.I. Lonoff is a central character in the novel. He lives a secluded life in his New England farmhouse and he serves as a mentor for the young Nathan, and as a cautionary tale.

Lonox, we find out, lived in Russia until his was 5. His parents then migrated to “primitive Palestine” (32) where they died of typhus and the boy was left with “family friends in a Jewish farming settlement” (32).

At 7, Lonox was sent to live with “wealthy relatives” in Brookline, Massachusetts.

The interactions between the young Nathan & the older Lonoff allows Roth to discuss other Jewish writers & literature more broadly,