In an easy-going and light-hearted style, famed novelist Saul Bellow read excerpts last night from his new novel Ravelstein to a large audience at the First Parish in Cambridge. He stopped afterwards to pose for pictures and meet with admirers.
The reading was sponsored by the Harvard Book Store and drew admirers from Harvard and the community.
"I've been a fan of [Bellow] for quite some time," said George Packer, a local enthusiast. " Ever since I read Bellow's first novel Dangling Man."
He added that "there is a mix of innocence and slyness that is there on the page but comes out more when he's reading it."
In attendance were students from English 178x: "The American Novel from Dreiser to the End of the Century"--a course that has Bellow's Herzog on the reading list.
" I'm in the...'American Novel,' and we just finished reading Herzog" said Arwen O'Reilly '02. "He's an eloquent writer, and it is interesting to come and hear him read because of his mastery of the English language."
Ravelstien, Bellow's first full-length novel in more than a decade, is loosely based on his friendship with Alan Bloom who was best known for his mid-1980's cultural commentary The Closing of American Minds in which he bemoaned the worthlessness of the modern liberal arts university education.
Many critics have expressed surprise at Bellow's candid account of his friendship with Bloom, who is now dead, that explores male friendship and Jewish culture. Bellow and Bloom became close friends while teaching together at the University of Chicago.
Read more in News
At Annual Drag Show, Explicit Acts Anger SomeRecommended Articles
-
Ogletree Is Named Director Of HLS Clinical ProgramsProfessor of Law Charles J. Ogletree has been named to serve as faculty director of clinical programs, Law School Dean
-
Aid InstituteExpected reductions of more than a million dollars in federal funds for legal aid services could close the Legal Services
-
Legal Aid Pioneer Bellow DiesBrandeis Professor of Law Gary Bellow died of a heart attack Thursday afternoon at Mount Auburn Hospital, closing a life
-
Bellow Brought Love to LawThe equality of all Americans under the law is meaningless unless all citizens have equal access to the law and
-
A Picture of Allan BloomWhen a spot of light hits our retina at its blind spot (where there aren't any photoreceptors), our brain fills
-
Celebration Begins With ArtsFaculty, alumni and students gathered last night for "An Evening of Literature and Music" to celebrate today's inauguration of Neil