NEWARK

— Though he is officially retired from writing, the irreverence that characterized “Goodbye Columbus,” “Portnoy’s Complaint” and other novels by Philip Roth was in evidence tonight when Newark’s greatest literary lion was presented with the key to the city.

“I have one question,” Roth told the crowd of 280 dignitaries and invited guests gathered at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center in downtown Newark. “Where is the lock? Where do I put it?”

Roth turned 80 on March 19, an occasion he used to announce his retirement as an author whose work often drew from his own upbringing in what was then Newark’s predominantly Jewish Weequahic section.

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Roth, who divides his time between Manhattan and Connecticut, has been spending a good deal of time lately in the city of his birth, which in turn has feted him on several occasions: tonight's key presentation by Mayor Cory Booker, with former Gov. Brendan Byrne in attendance; a conference of Roth scholars; an exhibit of his personal photo collection; a birthday bash at the Newark Museum.

Tonight's ceremony preceded a screening of a new documentary by William Karel and Livia Manera, “Philip Roth: Unmasked,” which will air Friday on PBS’ “American Masters” series.

Booker, a non-Newark native who said Roth had “10 times more the Newark street cred than I have,” asked about the retirement.

“I couldn’t take it anymore, the pressure was so great,” replied the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of two dozen novels and several other books and collections. “Not the deadlines, the writing.”

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