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, Humbolt'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, while proclaiming each individual's perennial access to
age-old truths.
In this collection of interviews spanning the period from 1953 to 1991,
Bellow elaborates further upon his fictional treatment of these ideas.
Here the reader finds the wit and urbane commentary that typify this
marvelous writer. He speaks with his interviewers of the changing role
of fiction, the literary establishment, and the place of literature in
modern life. Since no definitive biography of Bellow has yet been
written, these interviews provide valuable insights into the writer that
many a