Saul Bellow

A multifaceted portrait of a modern-day hero, a man struggling with the complexity of existence and longing for redemption.

The story of Tommy Wilhelm, an honest, hard-working man who has lost his job, his girlfriend, and part of his sanity as he heads to New York to pick up the pieces of his life.

Encouraged by his friend, Chick, to write down his ideas about humankind, university professor Abe Ravelstein receives unexpected acclaim and bounty and invites Chick to join his his success, a situation that sparks a philosophical journey for both.

The third volume of the Library of America's edition of Saul Bellow's complete novels collects three essential works: Mr. Sammler's Planet (1970), Humboldt's Gift (1975) -- and The Dean's December (1982). In each, Bellow shows himself a master of biting social commentary and bold characterization--above all through a trio of unforgettable protagonists. These novels, written in the period of Bellow's greatest literary and popular acclaim--he was awarded...

For over forty years Saul Bellow has been writing fiction that denounces the destructive forces that have dominated the literature of this century - existential nihilism and historicist pessimism. In novel after novel - The Adventures of Augie March, Herzog, Humboldt's Gift, Mr. Sammler's Planet, and others - he has tried to restore the integrity of the private life, the value of human feeling, and the primacy of social contract and proclaimed each...

Augie March is a Jewish-American boy growing up fatherless and poor in Depression-era Chicago. He seeks a "special destiny," although his circumstances seem to position him for a uniquely disappointing life: his family consists of a simple-minded mother, a brother and "grandmother" who prove to be Machiavellian in their intentions, and an "idiot" youngest brother, Georgie.

This spoof of documentary films stars Woody Allen as Leonard Zelig, the famous "Chameleon Man" of the 1920's, whose personality was so vague he would assume the characteristics of whomever he came into contact with. Filmed in black-and-white, the movie simulates the look of a newsreel, complete with stentorian narration.