Saul Bellow: Novels 1956-1964: Seize the Day; Henderson the Rain King; Herzog

Nobel Prize winning author and acclaimed playwright Bellow has an indelible place in American letters. This compendium, the second in a series edited by Wood, follows a 1944-1953 collection, and includes three prominent novels-Seize the Day, Henderson the Rain King and Herzog-considered some of the finest examples of post-war American literature. Dark, devastating and funny, Bellow's writing reflects the solitude and isolation of the immigrant experience-a Russian-Jewish emigre, Bellow grew up in the Jewish ghettos of Canada, and then Chicago-as well as the troubled predicament of Judaism in post-war society. Wood, a senior editor of the New Republic, co-taught with Bellow at Boston University; he provides annotation and a helpful chronology of Bellow's life, placing these three works into context. Readers interested in analysis may be disappointed, as by and large Wood lets the text speak for itself, but the supplementary material will prove instructive for any reader, irrespective of their familiarity with the material.