Howard Jacobson on his father

Howard Jacobson tells the story of his father, a man who never read a book in his life, and who “liberated” Jacobson by dying. “This is me being funny and touching, you’ll have read all about that…” he explains. Jacobson’s father was, among other things, a childhood magician. But the magician’s house was puritanical - the body could never be discussed - and Jacobson grew up shielded from the world by his over-protective father. When his father died, Jacobson was exposed, on his own, and “a writer needs to be on his own”. But, he says, “my father was the one that gave me the comedy, the seriousness, and now he’s gone…I’m vulnerable, just be sorry for me.”