Patrimony , a true story, touches the emotions as strongly as anything Philip Roth has ever written. Roth watches as his eighty-six-year-old father—famous for his vigor, charm, and his repertoire of Newark recollections—battles with the brain tumor that will kill him. The son, full of love, anxiety, and dread, accompanies his father through each fearful stage of his final ordeal, and, as he does so, discloses the survivalist tenacity that has distinguished his father's long, stubborn engagement with life.

菲利普·罗斯，善于以长篇小说编织人性史诗（《美国牧歌》、《人性的污点》、《垂死的肉身》等）的美国当代文学，泰斗菲利普·罗斯（Philip Roth）在1991年意外地出版了一部纪实作品——《遗产：一个真实的故事》。视线凝聚的焦点，不再是广阔的社会、宏大的命题，而是罗斯刚刚去世的父亲，一个平凡、卑微的犹太老头。临终前的日子，他的一生像一条浸透了琐碎往事的河，在他和他的作家儿子眼前，半明半灭地流过。父与子之间的关系，从来没有像现在这样既亲密又陌生，既血肉相连又渐行渐远，当亲人的生命进入倒计时，所有的思索与拷问，所有的惶恐与悲伤，都逼得人透不过气来——哪怕这个人，是以冷峻著称的菲利普·罗斯。作家罗斯和儿子罗斯在《遗产》的字里行间不停地互换，激情与理性时而鏖战、时而讲和，努力还原生活的真相。生活的真相，足以让任何文字都相形见绌，也足以征服全美国最苛刻的书评人。1992年，《遗产》问鼎“全美书评人大奖”，成为非虚构类作品的当代经典。