Saul Bellow

Author profile

born

in Lachine, Quebec, Canada

June 10, 1915

died

April 05, 2005

gender

male

website

http://www.saulbellow.org/

genre

Literature & Fiction, Nonfiction

influences

The Bible, William Shakespeare, Stendhal, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Anton Che...more

About this author

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Saul Bellow was born in Lachine, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, in 1915, and was raised in Chicago. He attended the University of Chicago, received his Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 1937, with honors in sociology and anthropology, did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, and served in the Merchant Marine during World War II.

Mr. Bellow's first novel, Dangling Man, was published in 1944, and his second, The Victim, in 1947. In 1948 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and spent two years in Paris and traveling in Europe, where he began The Adventures of Augie March,, which won the National Book Award for fiction in 1954. Later books include Seize The Day (1956), Henderson The Rain King (1959), Herzog (1964), Mosb...more Saul Bellow was born in Lachine, Quebec, a suburb of Montreal, in 1915, and was raised in Chicago. He attended the University of Chicago, received his Bachelor's degree from Northwestern University in 1937, with honors in sociology and anthropology, did graduate work at the University of Wisconsin, and served in the Merchant Marine during World War II.

Mr. Bellow's first novel, Dangling Man, was published in 1944, and his second, The Victim, in 1947. In 1948 he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and spent two years in Paris and traveling in Europe, where he began The Adventures of Augie March,, which won the National Book Award for fiction in 1954. Later books include Seize The Day (1956), Henderson The Rain King (1959), Herzog (1964), Mosby's Memoirs and Other Stories (1968), and Mr. Sammler's Planet (1970). Humboldt's Gift (1975), was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Both Herzog and Mr. Sammler's Planet were awarded the National Book Award for fiction. Mr. Bellow's first non-fiction work, To Jerusalem and Back: A Personal Account, published on October 25,1976, is his personal and literary record of his sojourn in Israel during several months in 1975.

In 1965 Mr. Bellow was awarded the International Literary Prize for Herzog, becoming the first American to receive the prize. In January 1968 the Republic of France awarded him the Croix de Chevalier des Arts et Lettres, the highest literary distinction awarded by that nation to non-citizens, and in March 1968 he received the B'nai B'rith Jewish Heritage Award for "excellence in Jewish literature", and in November 1976 he was awarded the America's Democratic Legacy Award of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, the first time this award was made to a literary personage.

A playwright as well as a novelist, Saul Bellow was the author of The Last Analysis and of three short plays, collectively entitled Under the Weather, which were produced on Broadway in 1966. He contributed fiction to Partisan Review, Playboy, Harper's Bazaar, The New Yorker, Esquire, and to literary quarterlies. His criticism appeared in The New York Times Book Review, Horizon, Encounter, The New Republic, The New Leader, and elsewhere. During the 1967 Arab-lsraeli conflict, he served as a war correspondent for Newsday. He taught at Bard College, Princeton University, and the University of Minnesota, and was a member of the Committee on Social Thought at the University of Chicago.(less)

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Saul Bellow's Books

Average rating: 3.75 · 37,600 ratings · 2,663 reviews · 87 distinct works · Similar authors

	Herzog by Saul Bellow, Philip Roth (Introduction) 3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 avg rating — 7,471 ratings — published 1964 — 57 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Adventures of Augie March by Saul Bellow, Christopher Hitchens (Introduction) 3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 avg rating — 6,615 ratings — published 1953 — 46 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Henderson the Rain King 3.77 of 5 stars 3.77 avg rating — 5,523 ratings — published 1959 — 36 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Seize the Day by Saul Bellow, Cynthia Ozick (Introduction) 3.56 of 5 stars 3.56 avg rating — 4,075 ratings — published 1956 — 40 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Humboldt's Gift 3.84 of 5 stars 3.84 avg rating — 3,437 ratings — published 1975 — 35 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Ravelstein 3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 avg rating — 1,446 ratings — published 2000 — 30 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Mr. Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow, Stanley Crouch (Introduction) 3.72 of 5 stars 3.72 avg rating — 1,374 ratings — published 1970 — 33 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dangling Man by Saul Bellow, Salman Rushdie (Introduction) 3.58 of 5 stars 3.58 avg rating — 970 ratings — published 1944 — 28 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	The Victim 3.47 of 5 stars 3.47 avg rating — 741 ratings — published 1947 — 26 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	More Die of Heartbreak 3.7 of 5 stars 3.70 avg rating — 583 ratings — published 1987 — 20 editions	Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Saul Bellow…

Quotes by Saul Bellow

“You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.”
― Saul Bellow

tags: imagination, inspiration, writing

3,684 people liked it

“Unexpected intrusions of beauty. This is what life is.”
― Saul Bellow, Herzog

tags: life

1,273 people liked it

“People can lose their lives in libraries. They ought to be warned.”
― Saul Bellow

tags: book-lovers, libraries, reading

679 people liked it

See all Saul Bellow's quotes »

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by Kersten Hamilton

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by Nora Roberts

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