Archive for October, 2018

‘Life of Saul Bellow’ by Zachary Leader

October 26th, 2018

WHO: Saul Bellow

WHAT: Volume Two of the acclaimed biography-
THE LIFE OF SAUL BELLOW: Love and Strife, 1965-2005
by Zachary Leader

WHEN: Published by Knopf November 6, 2018

WHERE: Author tour to Boston, Chicago, Miami, New York, Washington DC.

WHY: “Masterful.
“This account of the second half of Bellow’s life from Zachary Leader is impressive in both content and accessibility. The biography opens at an exciting point: Bellow, with the publication of the bestselling and critically acclaimed Herzog, catapults to the highest echelons of literary success. Leader combines Bellow’s life story with close readings of his major (and sometimes minor) texts, highlighting the autobiographical content of Bellow’s fiction.
“Although generous to Bellow, Leader shows the highly flawed person existing alongside the great writer. The book depicts a man caught up in mid-century notions of masculinity, displaying a volatile temper, expecting women to wait on him, and flaunting his dominance. While garnering an array of literary honors — National Book Awards, the Pulitzer Prize, and the Nobel — Bellow continually disappoints his children and friends, and careens from affair to affair and marriage to marriage. Yet Leader has a talent for finding the redeeming details that humanize Bellow — consideration to his assistant Mrs. Corbin; affection toward his only daughter, Naomi Rose, born when he was 84, five years before he died.
“Leader succeeds because his book never bogs down: despite its almost 800 pages, Leader knows when to move on, producing a compulsively readable biography.”
–PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, a starred review

“A top-notch exploration of one of the most important midcentury writers.”
—KIRKUS, a starred review

“Definitive and revelatory. This is biography at its best.”
—David Keymen, in a starred review for LIBRARY JOURNAL

Photo montage


Knopf. With 16 photos in text and 24 pages of photos.
767 pages. $40 ISBN 978-1-101-87516-2

Media Resources:
About the book and author | Author tour | Read an excerpt | Download the jacket | Download photo of Bellow in 1964 | Download photo of Bellow accepting Nobel Prize | Download photo of Bellow with President Reagan | Download the author photo


To interview the author, contact:
Michelle Tomassi | 212-572-2853 | mtomassi@penguinrandomhouse.com