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Saul Bellow: Seize the Day

(Fiction, 118 pp. 1956)

A day in the life of Tommy Wilhelm, an unemployed salesman who is estranged from his wife and children, is living in a hotel with his cold and disapproving father, and has given his last dollars to a questionable character for speculation in the commodities market.  Bellow’s novella paints a memorable picture of the inner turmoil of a man on the brink.  

  • Reader’s Guide from Penguin Random House
  • Article: “Saul Bellow’s Doctor Adler: The Achieving Medical Father and His Non-Achieving Son” by Solomon Posen, Hektoen International, April 2009
  • Video interview with Saul Bellow about Chicago in the 1920s (5 min.) 2009