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Title: Bellow - A Biography by James Atlas ISBN: 0-394-58501-1 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 17 October, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $35.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.42 (19 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Excellent Biography of less than admirable subject
Comment: If you wonder how an individual endowed with every blessing humanly imaginable could still be disgruntled, read this biography. It's a study of near-pathological narcissism and the affliction seems to have worsened rather than regressed as time went on. Believe it or not, I love Bellow's work and will continue reading him. But how else can you describe a man who has been gifted with fame, talent, looks(not my cup of tea, but Atlas insists women found him devastating), wealth, family (4 of them, in fact) and apparently miraculous health (he fathered a child at 85), yet he comes across as an infantile malcontent. I have to admit the most fascinating aspect of this book for me was the dichotomy between Bellow's abundance of earthly blessings and his nasty, petty nature. On the other hand, there are people living under the cruelest circumstances who are nonetheless angelic. Go figure.
Rating: 4
Summary: Expert and persuasive argument for a neglected writer
Comment: Who reads Saul Bellow nowadays? He is yet another American writer who has fallen into neglect now that he is no longer able to dominate by force of personality. And that is a shame for Bellow at his best was a genuine artist.
Fortunately, James Atlas is there to serve as a fervent, if critical, champion. I'm tempted to say that he has tried to do for Saul Bellow what Tim Page has done for Dawn Powell (although Bellow was once highly popular, so a better comparison might be to Richard Lingeman and his recent book on Sinclair Lewis). He does not shy away from the less attractive aspects of Bellow's personality, and he is devastating in his portrayal of the nattering clique of self-obsessed "New York intellectuals" who turned the author into a not-so-secular demi-God.
And yet one comes away from the book with a renewed respect for Bellow and his work. If Atlas cannot quite restore him to the pantheon, it is not for lack of trying. This is an intelligent, well-researched and brave book.
Rating: 2
Summary: bla bla bla
Comment: For some reason many of the authors we read are very interesting people, more interesting then the books they write. Dickens and Hemingway to name just a few. In this case Bellow's books are way more interesting then his bio. There could of been a lot more about his books and a lot less of the author tip toeing around what a terrible selfish egotistcal and boring person Saul Bellow is. That he pretty much used relationships to get writing material and feed that ego. Any way read his books, Bellow is a great writer, I think, and wait for Bellow to pass on to his just reward. Hopefuly someone then will write a good Bio.
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Title: The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow ISBN: 0140189416 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: October, 1996 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
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Title: The Actual : A Novella by Saul Bellow ISBN: 0140274995 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: May, 1998 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Oracle Night : A Novel by Paul Auster ISBN: 0805073205 Publisher: Henry Holt & Company, Inc. Pub. Date: 02 December, 2003 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: Of Paradise and Power: America and Europe in the New World Order by Robert Kagan ISBN: 1400040930 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: 28 January, 2003 List Price(USD): $18.00 |
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Title: The Known World by Edward P. Jones ISBN: 0060557540 Publisher: Amistad Press Pub. Date: 14 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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