"There's no denying the engaging quality of Bellow's reflections on the power and mystery of friendship" wrote Ron Charles in his Christian Science Monitor review of Ravelstien. As audience members found out on yesterday evening, the novel begins in the early 1990s and documents Abe Ravelstein' s ostentatious lifestyle and tragic death from AIDS.
Some critics admire the novel's ability to focus on both Bloom and Bellow. Chick, the narrator in Ravelstien, can be viewed as a lose sketch of Bellow.
Advertisement
Bellow has published novels, novellas and short stories. He was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1975 for his novel Humboldt's Gift, and received the Noble Prize in Literature the next year.