Michael Hollingsworth, associate professor of American Literature at Texas A & M University, writes this: "Dr Metablog: you claim that Woody Allen and Philip Roth are doppelgangers. I've got to tell you something you might not want to hear: you're way behind the curve on this one. It's been well known in literary circles for many years that Roth and Allen are two different presentations of the same person. But there's lively disagreement about who's who. One group, the Rothites, think that Woody is an invention of Philip. The Allenites, on the other hand, are convinced that the Roth who very occasionally appears in public is an actor hired by Woody and that Woody has written all the so-called Roth novels. And then there's a more radical group (gaga conspiracy-theorists in my view) who claim that both Roth and Allen are the invention of some as-yet-unidentified third person, a prominent New York intellectual. This last theory is just nuts"
Wow, this is exciting news. And here I thought that I had discovered something original when I identified Roth and Allen as one and the same. Isn't it always the case; you think you have an original idea but it turns out that someone has anticipated your insight? Stay tuned, loyal readers, as I bring myself up to date on Roth/Allen doppelgangeritudinousness.
For a while there I was beginning to think that I was some sort of crank; now I see that I'm part of the mainstream. How reassuring. And moreover, readers, I think that I've already chosen my side in this battle. I'm inclined to be an Allenite.
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